I CAN!

(Pronounced with the same surprise, shock, and amazement as Bob Wiley when he said “I SAIL!” on What About Bob.)

Canning is something I’ve always been intimidated by. I knew it was a little investment, and always thought there was a lot of preparation and learning involved. I’ve done my fair share of freezer jam, but never felt like that was truly canning. It seemed a bit too crafty for someone (me) who claims to be the least crafty of them all, so I leaned away from it. But I became curious this year, and got the itch to give it a try. I shopped around for the gear, made some calls to my canning-expert sister Amber, and gave it a go. And guess what? I’m hooked! Maybe it’s because I’m looking for more productive things I can do from home, or maybe it’s because I needed a small challenge, I’m not sure. But I do know that my list of things to can keeps getting longer. The babies have been so kind to play so nicely while I hang out in the kitchen during the day, but a lot of times, I wait until the evening, so I can fully immerse myself (no pun intended) in the process, and even listen to a good book while chopping and pealing dozens of apples at a time. I can’t wait until I have a garden so I can really put all my new equipment and newly acquired know-how to use. Although, gardening is another one of those things I’m scared of, so it will have to wait until I’m in the mood for another challenge. Who knows when that will be.

I find myself filling with pride as I look at the small stock of food I’ve added to our storage. The process is an art to me. It’s so fun to play with new toys. . .um, I mean tools, and dusting off old ones. I love that it gets me in the kitchen, elbow deep in colorful, delicious food. Much better on the waistline than baking breads and pastries everyday like I would otherwise want to do to fill this need for creating, and just enjoying myself in my true element. The past few days, the smell of my kitchen has been in a constant state of spiced apple, and those fresh apples from the farm have quite the fragrance, let me tell you!

I hope to keep it up throughout the year as things come in season. Here is what I’ve accomplished so far:

I even enjoyed this on top of my pumpkin ice cream last night.

The Lemon Curd is frozen rather than processed. I wanted to use fresh lemon juice, and freezing is the safest way to preserve it. It just sounded like a fun addition.

Made with the apple peelings and cores!

I know my stock isn’t very well rounded, but time will bring more colors and flavors to my food storage, I’m sure. It’s been so fun ringing in the fall with this festive new hobby of mine.