Gifts for our families!! I''m so excited :-)

[yssie]

Homemade butters and marmalades! With whatever is in season at the time - right now I'm doing apples, pears, and oranges, newish to bulk canning for long term storage so I figured I'd start simple - I'm going to try peaches and limes next week

We wanted to do something nice for our close family and friends, esp. since so many people are flying in from overseas - we'll leave these in the hotel rooms.

I'm seriously so proud of myself for getting them all to set! And FI was adorable trying to figure out the electric peeler

9 down, 58 to go... good thing I've got two months left

Just wanted to share

 

[lulu66]

so yummy! yay!!

 

[EmDressage]

Can you share how you did these? Would love a recipe(s). I was thinking of doing the same thing, not sure where to start with it.
Too cute!!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Those look great and will be a gift, I would actually want it, which is often not the case with wedding favors.

One note with home making things and packaging, especially acidic things. Make sure you bring the mixture to a good boil for at least 3 straight minutes. It sounds obvious, but home canning and jarring are the number one cause of botulism poisoning in America and it is so easy to avoid.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 6/20/2010 1:34:25 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
Those look great and will be a gift, I would actually want it, which is often not the case with wedding favors.

+1! Those look fab!

 

[ArtistJess]

ohh.. amazing!

 

[yssie]

Thank you everyone! I was going for gifts people would actually enjoy and use

Brazen -

I went a little nuts the other way and each of the filled jars sat in the boiling water vat for 12 minutes, so they should be okay - right?! They were all definitely sealed after they cooled (I used the button lids to make sure I couldn''t miss it)


Em - I got a bunch of ball mason canning jars and lids from Costco - you can get fancier jars online, too, though with shipping I found buying so many at once locally a bit cheaper.

Apple/cranberry butter (5qts) -
1. Applesauce - I used a combo of red delicious, gala, and mcintosh. The sauce really ''shrinks'', like cooking spinach, so you need a lot more apples than you thought - so just buy a sack and save yourself an extra grocery trip! Chop (don''t peel), cook ''til tender, grind/process w/ a foodmill, put back in the pot and heat, add spices (I used cinnamon, nutmet, and vanilla, no sugar) and cranberry sauce (just heat cranberries in a little water and sugar ''til they explode and the sauce thickens a bit), and simmer another fifteen minutes or so.
2. Pour applesauce into a slow cooker (you want it almost at maximum capacity, I''m using two crock pots), and 3-4tbsp sugar, some cinnamon/allspice/ginger/nutmeg/ground cloves, I let it cook for about 8 hours - the colour will change to a darker brown and it''ll be buttery in texture, rather than drippy applesauce.
3. I blended to get it creamier, and then added a little more applesauce and let it cook for another two hours, but I don''t think this is necessary. The texture is fantastic after a good blending though

Pear/honey (5qts) -
Pretty much the same as apple butter - make pearsauce, slow cook w/ spices. Add 2-3 tbsp honey at the last minute and let it melt in for fifteen minutes or so - not too long or it''ll burn

I used some pectin with this to get it thicker - pectin is - well, finicky, for a newbie at least! I used the liquid stuff from a can, and found the best way to get it to set was to pour sauce into an 8c pyrex container, add the required amount of pectin and boil it in the microwave until I could see it bubbling - I wasted a lot of pectin trying to get it to set on the stove! Sugar-free pectin did not work for me.

Marmalade (5qts) -
10ish oranges, peel (save the peel), leave the white stuff. Cut the peel into strips or something (these will be visible in the final jar), add a tsp or so sugar, and simmer in 1c water for 15mins or so. Cube the oranges, add sugar (says how much on the pectin box), bring to boil in 6-7c water. The oranges will break down, and when they''re squishy enough and the ''water'' is slightly thick and orange flavoured add pectin (again, the microwave worked best for me).

To can everything, pour the hot sauces into the jars (they''re made to withstand the heat, so that''s fine), seal, and immerse in a vat of boiling water (so that the jars are about 2" deep in water) for 10m (I went over by 2mins). Let them cool on a wire rack, and if they sealed properly the lid should indent downwards (if you''re new to canning I recommend choosing lids with button tops that actually invert, and pop out if they''re not sealed, it''s just an extra precaution). If they didn''t seal you can pour the mix back in, reheat, and try again no problems, but if you''re using plastisol lids use a new one!


There are a ton of butter and marmalade recipes out there, and lots of canning info, def. check it out.


Good luck!!

 

[Luckyeshe]

Awesome job, yssie!!! Everyone will appreciate all the hard work you''ve put in them! And they look delicious! I wish I could do something like that....I can''t cook....