Busy, busy, busy.......

So, as usual, the month of September and the beginning of October have been ridiculously busy at work.  But, then again, when isn't it busy and stressful?  I've been very remiss in posting to the blog even though I've been cooking/canning up a storm.  Below are some of the highlights and I'm going to try to be more diligent about posting sooner so I don't have a ridiculous amount of items all mashed together.

Here goes.....

The end of September and increased stress caused a flurry of mind numbing canning to calm my frazzled nerves.  I absolutely hate the copious amounts of sugar that normal jam calls for in most recipes.  So, I attempted a few no sugar/low sugar creations.

The first is a pineapple, raspberry apricot jam that's got a pretty pink hue, but I've been a little apprehensive to try.  I'm imagining it's going to be quite tart so am trying to think of some yummy recipe to try it in instead of just straight on toast. 

The second is honey peach jam which is pretty good and has a little bit of a bite to it.  Eric has also discovered that it's quite good as a topping on vanilla ice cream when the only other item I have in the house is sugar free chocolate syrup.

I was able to get a bunch of peaches for a great price and decided to can them in super light syrup.  We haven't tried them yet, but they look really pretty in the jars.  It almost seems like a shame to eat them and ruin all my beautiful work. 

The next adventure was dilly beans.  Not one of my favorites, but Eric absolutely loves them (as long as they're spicy).  So, I found a recipe and added extra cayenne pepper.  Hopefully they're hot enough for him, cause I won't be eating them. 

Overall, very busy weekend....

So, since the previous canning was such a success I decided to try the extremely formidable pressure cooker.  I made up a recipe several months ago for spaghetti sauce in the crock pot.  It's a huge hit and everyone loves it.  Eric has become spoiled and refuses to eat anything out of the jar for a quick meal.  So, I figured I could just can my special sauce and I'd be able to create a quick meal when needed instead of in the slow cooker for 8 hours.  Once again, it looks good, but we just haven't tried it yet.  If it tastes as good as it looks I think I'll be making it in bulk. 

Once I was able to get the pressure correct and keep it there, and figured out I wasn't going to explode myself or the house, the pressure cooker wasn't quite so intimidating. 

And since "the seasons" have officially begun, hunting seasons that is, the freezer space is rapidly filling.  With a bear and an elk processed and in the freezer, so far, it's time to make some room.  So, Eric asked me to try canning salmon.  I tried one plain version and one with garlic.  I mixed some with carmelized onion and cream cheese to make tea sandwiches this weekend and they were a huge hit.  Success with the pressure cooker once again!

And, since our freezer is full and holding the last loaf of bread hostage and I had 100 minutes for the salmon to process I decided to make a loaf of bread from scratch.  It turned out super yummy and makes me want to try some more bread recipes.  I think a rustic bread cooking class or cookbook may be in my near future.

*Note - I actually made one more jar of canned salmon that's not pictured.  Our very good dog Franklin decided that he'd like to see what was inside the jar while I was distracted.  He managed to carry it to his bed in the living room and put a puncture hole in the lid before I was able to rescue it.  So, into the fridge went that jar and outside went his fishy smelling bed. 
  
The hubby even had to purchase and assemble a new heavy duty shelving unit in the pump house for all of my new canning creations.