I've been mildly curious about learning to can things. (You know, big gardens, glass jars, preserved produce, yummy jams - jellies - salsas).
In the past I've developed an interest and rushed to the store to purchase ALL of the necessary supplies (think: scrapbooking, rubber stamping, jewelry making) only to find most of them still in the plastic sacks in a neglected corner of my office. I'm committing to financially easing into this new hobby. So I ran to the store to oogle all the canning supplies and admire the shiny jars.
Wow! I thought canning was simply to shove goodies in a glass jar, fill with spices and liquid, then stick it on a shelf for later use. Evidently I have a lot to learn.
There are TONS of jar options. Regular or wide mouth?, quilted crystal or plain glass? 4 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz, 32 oz, 64 oz.? Even glass or plastic. Gees!
I knew I had a box of 4 oz. and 32 oz. jars at home (from a previous brief hair-brained canning idea) so I opted to purchase the box of 12 oz. quilted crystal regular-mouth jars (because they looked pretty). On a whim, I also purchased the box of 64 oz. Mason jars because I imagined them as awesome iced tea pitchers in my refrigerator. (that has nothing to do with spending - see how this manic spending spree starts?). After I placed a packet of freezer jam pectin and plastic freezer jars with purple lids in my cart, I pressed on.
(side note: I laughed out loud when I read the official canning website for Ball Company. Visit www.freshpreserving.com for recipes, tips, etc. That is my new favorite oxy-moron!)
When I arrived home I turned on the SIRIUS radio to the 80's Hair Bands station (really?) and rocked out while I taught myself how to make freezer jam.
The first year we were married, I tried to be a dutiful wife and make strawberry freezer jam - but didn't know to add pectin as the magic ingredient. So we had really good ice cream topping...I haven't tried it again until now, 15 years later.
The directions read 4 cups of "crushed" fruit. That sounded harsh. Hmmm. What to do? So I dug out my blender (that is 15 years old; a wedding gift), cleaned it up, and dumped six cups of rinsed berries into the thing. Then I had another decision to make - beat? blend? puree? chop? crumb? mix? There wasn't a selection for "crush" so I opted for "blend" which sounded like the gentlest speed. As I was blenderizing the berries it occurred to me that I probably could have used the potato masher to accomplish the same thing without a major clean up. Live and learn...
I mixed the crushed berries with pectin and sugar and ladeled them into the freezer containers. (it would be nice if ladel makers would consider left-handed ladelers. Us south paws either have to get used to dumping contents onto ourselves or stand on our heads to ladel).
I stood back, admired my accomplishment and slathered some onto a bagel thin. Not bad for the first time. I deemed it suitable for gift giving and placed it in the refrigerator.
Then Ben came home and asked me why it's in the refrigerator if it's called freezer jam? Oy.
