Intro to (Small Batch) Canning with MistressJennie - An LC Community Class

those look fantastic!
@MistressJennie – the class was really interesting – I apologize for ducking out early, but my daughter (with her new baby) was facetiming me, so I HAD to take that chance to see that sweet little face :slight_smile:
Looking fwd to watching the replay (and your raspberry jam looks wonderful!)
oh, and @Magpie , does Rob have a favorite bread recipe? that also looks fantastic!!

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I just sent out the link to the recording via pm. If there are any issues, please let me know.

Yes! @Magpie what was that book again?

Thanks @MistressJennie for the class. It was interesting and I could smell the jam being made!

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The extra jam was calling to me, so I made a batch of plain muffins as a vehicle for jam delivery to my tummy.

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Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast is the title of the book. I can’t open it on the phone but I think this might be a PDF of the book.

FYI, I have updated the list of recommended books, including one we talked about in the live class. Southern Living’s book, which is specifically geared to small batch canning, and which gives recipes to use you newly made canned goods in. It also gives 4 seasonal menus & recipe lists for hosting a canning party of your own with friends.

I also added the list of books to avoid, by the blog author we also discussed in class.

One final canning project for the season. A batch of Bananas Foster Butter.

I forgot to mention it in class, but another thing I like to do, is have a small side project while canning. Something you can walk away from when you need to tend the canning recipe, but that you can work on while waiting for the water to come to a boil, while things simmer, or while the canner is processing. Today I used up 4 older quart jars making Cranberry Hootycreek Cookie Mixes as a few extra Christmas gifts.

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It all looks yummy!

Now that’s my kind of canning. :laughing:

One of my all time favorite cookie recipes was an “in a jar” recipe:

Oatmeal-Chip Cookies in a Jar:

1 c. all purpose flour, 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. salt, 1 t. cinnamon, 1-1/4 c. quick-cooking oats, 1 c. any flavor chips

Layer flour, brown sugar and sugar in a quart jar, packing down lightly after each addition. Combine baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and add to jar. place oats in jar. fill remainder with flavoed chip. attach tag with instructions.

Pour jar contents into a large bowl; mix 1/2 c. oil, one egg and 1 t. vanilla. form into one inch balls and arrange on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 350* for 10 to 15 minutes. makes 3 doz.

Soooo good!!

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I want to do some of these Butterscotch Pecan Shortbread Cookie Mixes too, with the last 3 older quart jars in my cupboard. I don’t feel comfortable canning with them, as a friend gave them to me after finding a huge stash at a yard sale. So I’m not sure how old they are. But I’ve been making jar mixes with them whenever I can.

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I managed 3 of those Butterscotch Pecan Shortbread Cookie Mixes, as well as 4 jars of Ranch Dip Mix and 3 jars of Ras el Hanout spice blend. Tomorrow’s task will be adding labels/directions to all the cookie mixes, and covering the tops of the spice jars with fabric & twine, so recipients don’t wonder why their ‘Petit Pot Plant Based Pudding’ is full of dust.

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Well I ran into my first possibly very bad jar of home canned food. Fortunately it wasn’t one I made, and even more fortunately, my husband recognized the signs. Our neighbors called us 2 weeks ago, stuck at the lake, with their dog home alone. They asked us to take care of the little guy over night, and as a thank you, left us a jar of their homemade salsa. We’ve traded home canned foods before with no worries, so I’m certain Jenny knows what she’s doing in the kitchen. But when Jim opened the jar of salsa today there was a hissing sound, and the salsa bubbled a bit, so he told me right away. NOPE! Not risking that, especially with a baby in the house. While some salsa might make Jim very sick (or kill him if he ate enough), letting it get on the counters where we make formula for Ada could kill her much easier. There’s a chance it could have just been fermented, but in case it was botulism we had to look up the steps to safely get rid of it.

So remember, if you suspect something, don’t risk it!

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Terrifying, wow. Glad you noticed & safely got rid of it asap!

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