Saturday, November 13, 2010

I Only Think I CAN

Since I decided to hold off on the Sweet Potatoes and eat them up instead of canning them, I finally sat down and tallied up the Garden 2010 Canning Season.  Even though I will continue to can things throughout the winter, I decided for reference purposes I would close out my numbers.

One thing blogging has me looking forward to is keeping track from year to year.  I don't know why I never did this in years past!  But as the years go by and as I venture out in all the various forms of food preservation, we are noticing a very significant decrease in our trips to the grocery store!  Isn't that awesome??  Grocery shopping was always one of my favorite things to do.  Now I simply get a few things and RUN!

So here are the Canning Totals for 2010:


Apple Butter - 2 Qts, 3 Pts, 31 hp
Apple Pie Filling - 28 Qts, 2 Pts
Apple Sauce - 10 Qts, 23 Pts, 7 hp
Apricot Jam - 10 Pts, 2 hp
Baked Beans - 7 Pts
Blueberry Pie Filling - 6 Qts
Bread & Butter Pickles - 7 Pts
Carrots - 13 Pts
Cherry Pie Filling - 3 Qts
Cowboy Candy - 2 Pts, 5 hp
Creamed Corn - 25 Pts
Grape Jelly - 5 Pts, 24 hp
Green Beans - 36 Pts
Ham & Beans - 3 Qts
Peach Pie Filling - 8 Qts
Pears - 7 Pts
Pepperoncini Peppers - 5 Pts
Pickled Beets - 2 Qts, 10 Pts, 5 hp
Plum Jam - 1 Pt, 9 hp
Sloppy Joe Sauce - 21 Pts, 1 hp
Spaghetti Sauce - 12 Qts, 1 Pt
Stewed Tomatoes - 15 Qts, 1 Pt
Tomato Juice - 17 Qts, 2 Pts
Tomato Sauce - 9 Qts
Zesty Relish - 4 hp

My Grand Total was no where near what I thought actually.  I was guessing upwards near 500 jars.  I didn't even break 400 :( ... 380 to be exact.  So, I really only think I CAN!

I'll figure my Frozen tally next.  Of course the Dehydrator will be in full use next year and I am pretty excited about that! 

Funny story...the other day, I decided I better dry some onions that had been hanging around and getting close to needing something done with.  So I diligently diced them in nice chunks and painstakingly separated each and every one and then ever so carefully layed them on the drying trays.  When I got to about the 4th tray I felt really stupid...   Do I need to tell you why?  Please say yes Please say yes!!!

13 comments:

  1. Okay, I'll stick my neck out. When I dehydrate my onions, I just slice them and lay the round slices on the trays. As they dry, the rings kind of separate themselves. When I use them I don't have "chopped" onions to use but it's easy to break apart the rings to toss in something.

    What am I missing? It's okay, APG, I'll wear your dunce cap for a while. It fits me well. :o)

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  2. Mama, see...you knew the smart way! You can put your neck back in, you are safe. My hat fits me fine :( Sometimes it's lonely being stoopid.

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  3. What is Cowboy Candy? I am going to guess a meat dish, but help me out. And isn't it liberating to know your not dependent on the grocery store. I to used to love to go especially when we travelled. Like a foreign grocery store might have something better. Now I am glad if I never go in one again. And come on, still very impressive totals!

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  4. Jane, Cowboy Candy is HOT peppers pickled in a sweet, thick brine. I found it on TastyKitchen. I want to try it next year with some milder peppers. The ones I used were so hot it gave me the hiccups!

    I will say this about grocery stores, I LOVE specialty/corner markets. You just never know what you will find in there. And of course I love hitting up the Amish grocers. Those are fun!

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  5. You'll NEVER be lonely being stoopid. The important thing is that we can continue to laugh at ourselves and our "duh" moments!

    As Jane said, ". . . come on, still very impressive totals!"

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  6. APG am I having a flashback to "planting BOTH sides of the pea fence"!! Couldn't resist, that was you, right? I just froze my dices and ringed onions this year since I pretty much melted my dehydrator! I really have to remember to do some of your Sloppy Joe sauce next year, that's a great idea to have it all ready to go! I get you on the grocery shopping, I just grab a bag of apples in the produce section now and turn my nose up at everything else as I speed by LOL!

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  7. Erin, Yupper! That was me with The Great Pea Debacle! Adam told me last week we should try peas again and I immediately said this time I would plant on both sides!!! Heehee...

    The Sloppy Joe was pretty good! I think when you make it you have to adjust the sweet and vinegar to your liking. I made it a few times and I still think more Cider Vinegar. But that be me.

    You melted your dehydrator?? How'dya do that?

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  8. beef jerky... about 4 roasts worth LOL! I was making it to send to hubby back in June and it was going for like 4 days straight and it's one of the cheapie plastic ones! At least I was able to get the strawberries done first!

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  9. Erin, beef jerky that long huh? I'm sorry, but my head is thinking of you putting new soles in the boys shoes with it! HA!

    Ok and I want to update you all:

    I have had TWO phone calls today from "Those Who Shall Not Be Named", who did not get why I might be wearing that Dunce Hat for the bloomin' onions...

    Now I don't feel so bad. I am not alone afterall! :)

    However, my brother says that when I walk into a room full of my friends I suck the intellgence out. I think that was a compliment. ?? Maybe, no?
    Whatever I like my hat

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  10. Hey APG those totals are impressive. Congrats, Im proud of yas. So what happened with the onions? lol

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  11. Stella, thanks, but I pale in comparison to you! You are the Queen!

    So the count is now up to FOUR folks who didn't know, maybe five.

    And for the most part, it seems to be a genetic problem. Darn gene pool!!!

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  12. No I didn't cook one batch for that long LOL, it just that the dehydrator was running for several days straight to get it all done !

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  13. Impressive totals! Good work! :)

    And for the record...I didn't get it either! But now I know...although I probably won't be dehydrating too much now that I'm in a humid climate....

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