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More canning
Marian and I pickled and canned beets yesterday and steam juiced elderberries to make jam. We only made one small batch of jam because of time constraints. We'd originally planned to pickle green beans too but they were too mature for pickling.
Beets:
Elderberry mash (compost):
The process:
I don't have any pictures of the finished product. Maybe Marian will take some of that and the juice. It was interesting to see how the colors of the two juices were so similar. We actually needed to double check ourselves a couple of times before pouring juice. Side by side it's not a problem- but separated you start to second guess. I got a dozen small jars of beets and one small jar of jelly to sample. We'll finish the jelly on Tuesday.
Beets:
Elderberry mash (compost):
The process:
I don't have any pictures of the finished product. Maybe Marian will take some of that and the juice. It was interesting to see how the colors of the two juices were so similar. We actually needed to double check ourselves a couple of times before pouring juice. Side by side it's not a problem- but separated you start to second guess. I got a dozen small jars of beets and one small jar of jelly to sample. We'll finish the jelly on Tuesday.
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Elderberry jam though, that sounds tasty. Is it easy to make? I've never made any jams before, though my girlfriend and her family tends to make them every year, including this one (Though they left me behind...)
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It's not hard at all. The most important thing, though, is that you HAVE to have a steamer. Elderberries are really really small and each berry has a stem which is clustered with an entire flower of berries- usually about 8 inches across. It takes too much time and effort to stem them so the steamer cuts through all of that, you just have to take out the large stems but you can leave them in small clumps. You can smash the berries a bit but if your juice starts to get brown, you want to stop the entire process. The color doesn't hurt anything but it can look a bit like mud if it's over cooked or over mashed. The juice really is a beautiful deep burgandy if it's done well. Once you have the juice it's simple- we used the recipe that's in the Ball lid instructions. Elderberries are pretty sour so there is a lot of sugar. I believe it's 4.5 cups of sugar with 4 cups of elderberries, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and a box of pectin. You boil it 4 minutes, put it in jars, and put in a hot water bath for 5 minutes. Really easy and very tasty! Give it a try but be aware that we started at 10 and finished at 4 to process 2 five-gallon buckets. It's very time consuming to steam the berries and we didn't have to do any trimming of the clusters- my dad did that for us when he harvested them.
I think pickled beets are pretty good. Some people I know don't like beets too much but love pickled beets. But each person has their own preference. Marian and I were nibbling on the beets as we were cutting and slicing because we really like them.
I'm curious how you came across my journal. It's always interesting to find out what appeals to people.
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I think I might have tried candied beets and liked them, but I'm sure pickled beets are out. Not only is it the taste, but the texture of them and color reminds me of less than pleasant things!
I found your journal at random. There is a very, very stupid 'random journal' button on the home page. I say stupid, because whenever I click on it I seem to make it to a journal that is in Russian. Out of the fiftyish times I've clicked it so far I have made it to 4 pages in English, and the rest were in Russian (I think) and one in Arabic. You were found by random, exhausting button clicking!
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I could see how the color of beets could be a bit off-putting. We always joke that when we work with beets the kitchen looks like the scene of a blood bath. But since I like the taste I'm willing to put up with the imagery. Our beets were pickled in cinnamon, clove, all-spice and mustard seed. They will be nice sweet pickles for us to enjoy.
I haven't noticed the random button. I guess I should investigate, although it sounds a little frustrating. You are always welcome to read here.