I made a couple of quarts of dill pickles the other night and was commenting to my sister about what hot work canning is. I do most of my canning in August when everything seems to come in at the same time in the garden. This weekend I will probably can some new potatoes. I’d like to do some salsa but that never seems to make it into a jar once the prep is done, it’s too good fresh.
Peaches are just starting to come in so I may do up some of them as well. Diced this year, yes a lot of work but worth it in January. Most of the time I just halve them and pack a jar in light syrup but I’m the only one who ends up eating them and a pint of peach halves is too much for me. Diced ones I can just throw into my cottage cheese – nothing yummier.
Pesto, tomatoes of every kind, beans, pickles, relishes, these are all the things that I expect to have to eat each winter so the pressure is on now to get it done.
At the end of last winter I cooked a smoked turkey that I had bought from Pekarskis. There were not a lot of people who were there to eat it and there is a lot of meat on an 18 pound turkey (it was a lovely free range bird as well). I cut all of the meat off of it, made a stock of the bones and canned it in pints. There were about 15 I recall. This canned turkey has been one of the best experiments in canning ever. I use it in jambalaya or black beans and rice and it is spectacular. Not only does it taste wonderful with a great texture it is the ultimate convenience food. This was my first foray into canning meat but will not be my last.
I think anyone who is considering canning should make that leap into a pressure canner. Yes they are expensive but canning with a hot water bath limits you to high acid or sugared fruits. I know once I got over the initial fear of the thing my canning options were exponentially expanded, it seems like there is nothing I can’t can now. Pressure canning is faster and safer and helps you diversify your larder. There is nothing better that wondering what’s for dinner, opening your canning closet and seeing choices.
Fort Pelham Farm 
My grandmother always canned chicken and pork sausage. It was great how she could come up with a meal in 20 minutes and never owned a microwave. Oh how I remember those meals at her place. Perhaps a pressure cooker would be the way to recapture those days. Thanks for the reminder.
I am hoping that peaches are still in season when I have a kitchen to can them in!!! Our favorite is peache halves in a light syrup – – – with about 3 cloves in it. The peaches sit in a dark closet until January and those tiny cloves add a lovely flavor…. My husband adores them. I also freeze peache slices for peach upside down cake. Canning and preserving is so much work, but so worth it!