I get it. Not common for a 34-year-old man to be canning...

This wine jelly is pretty great.

My first two years of gardening produced improving yields, but not enough to can after eating and giveaways. I'm hoping to have enough to start canning this year. The plan to increase tomatoes about 5 times over should lead to a lot of canned tomatoes and red sauce, if nothing else.

Other than that, the closest I've come to canning so far is making and storing my own oil infusions.

If you have ever climbed through a plum thicket the reward is worth every scrape, scratch, and cut.

Got a recipe to share?

Bloody Mary mix...yum. ;)

Sure, from America's Test Kitchen (the folks that do Cook's Illustrated). This is in their DIY cookbook, from which I'll be attempting homemade bacon and pancetta at some point in the near future...

Ingredients

750ml bottle of red wine
3.25 c. sugar
1 (3-oz.) package of LIQUID pectin
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. butter

Note from me: The wine doesn't need to be expensive, it's a good way to use a cheap bottle of wine; but if you can afford it, a decent wine will only improve the jelly's flavor. I used a $10 bottle of Rosemount Estate's 2010 Shiraz, which is one of my favorite everyday bottles. I also wanted to use a wine that I was really familiar with, so I could see how the jelly compared with the wine, which I know quite well. The author notes he prefers Merlot.

Directions

1. Bring 1 1/4 c. wine to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook until reduced to 1/3 c., 15-20 minutes.

2. Bring remaining wine and sugar to boil in large saucepan, stirring frequently. Stir in pectin, lemon juice, and butter, and return to vigorous boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in reserved reduced wine.

3. Transfer jelly to jars with tight-fitting lids, let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. Let jelly set for 12-24 hours. Jelly can be refrigerated for at least 2 months.

Makes about four 1-cup jars.

CANNING: If you want to can it, double the recipe. Ladle jelly while still hot into hot, sterilized 1-cup jars. Leave 1/4-inch headspace at the top, and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes (or longer, depending on altitude). It's better to overprocess than under.

When evaluating women:
1. Can you make gravy from scratch, or do you buy it in a jar.
2. Can you can foods?

I am 34, my wife and I can from our own garden and butcher our own livestock. Country living is making a comeback.

Peyton Canning

:thumb:

ROFL

My father-in-law is a pretty good cook, but he often takes shortcuts. But on Thanksgiving and Christmas he goes all out. Big turkey, stuffing from scratch, scratch-made pies, real mashed potatoes, homemade green bean casserole, etc. And then he dumps the turkey drippings in the garbage and breaks out the packaged just-add-water gravy mix........

:cuss: :banghead:

Hope cHunt knows how to do this and cans his stupid ass GM.

Thanks! Can't wait to give it a try.

Bah, beat me to it.