Last Chance for Canning Glory!

It seems to all be coming together - the last chance for canning fantastick! (that is right folks, 61 lbs of tomatoes and 6 jars of pickles weren't enough for me)

1) Jen wanted to can something.
2) Jen is trapped in her own home, a perfect time to put up preserves.
3) Jen has a huge kitchen, knives, pots, cutting board, and sink.
4) I have a pressure canner, a water bath pot the size of New Zealand, a newly supplemented supply of jars from my father, and a stick with a magnet on the end.
5) It is apple picking season!!!! If you saw the strawberry post on WI roaming you know that love ourselves some good Pick your Own!
6) I want to make Apple Butter. I love it. and I want to see if I can make it with Splenda.


To be involved - - anyone who is interested in any of this should email me. If you don't actually know me or live in the area, then I am sorry, you probably can't participate. But, stay tuned for how this all turns out.

apple picking/buying - I come back to Madison on Sunday, probably around 1pm or so. I would like to go do the apple picking then, if anyone wants to go with me you are welcome. Otherwise you can go obtain your own apples. Jen, I will be happy to pick for you too.

Some hours:
Eplegaarden Orchard: in Fitchburg
Sept. 1 – Oct. 31 Mon. – Sat. 9 AM – 5 PM
Sunday 11 AM – 5 PM
www.carandale.com: in Oregon
SAT & SUN HOURS WILL BE 10AM-5PM (WE WILL ONLY BE OPEN ON FRI, SAT & SUN)

These sites found on this very cool website:
http://www.pickyourown.org/wigo.htm

To Process -
1) of course we are going to do this at Jen's house. Jen, do you have a suggestion for a good day? What about Sunday 9-16? I have to go out with my customers (read drive their drunk butts around) on Monday and Tuesday nights so those won't work for me.
2) We need an apple peeling thingy. Jen, I just feel like this is a machine you should own. (if you make your own cheese, no reason not to be an apple pie queen too) -Here is the best type. If you wanted to buy one, that would be cool. If not then let me know and I will obtain one.
3)Recipes/What you are going to do with your apples -get yourself a plan - searching the internet yields a surprising number of canning recipes. You will need to know if your plan involves pressure canning or water bath canning and how long they need to be in. For pressure canning, also what pressure they need to be at.
---note, I sort of figured that I would go to Jen's and we would take the apples all the way from dirty little apples to canned apple butter. This will take many hours. If you want to process your apples into the sauce that goes into the jars ahead of time, just let me know and you can come over for just the canning portion.
4) Jars and Lids - I have an over abundance of Quart jars right now, so if you are going to put up big jars then you can use mine, however, I probably don't have enough pint and jelly jars for all. So, if you are going to can apple butter, then we need to get you some pint and jelly jars.
5) I have to get my pressure canner back from Rick. He borrowed it without telling me, but then it turns out he didn't use it. - you may remember that when we went to the pick your own veggies farm he spent 20 minutes jostling with an elderly Hmong woman to pick like 10 lbs of tiny hot peppers. Well, he had to do something with them, so the brief story I got was that he used my jars and froze them... I don't know and I am not going to think about it any more.

anyhow - email me if you want to participate, and Jen, we need a date for your house.