Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

Jam & Jelly for the Market

I have four batches made up for the Farmer's Market on Saturday.  I am using 12 oz quilted crystal jars since they are my favorite!  But the batches don't make as many of the bigger jars.  Oh well, I'll just make as many as I can and call it good.

So far I have made:
7 - Red Current Jelly
5 - Wild Strawberry Jam
4 - Wild Strawberry & Rhubarb Jelly
6 - Raspberry, Blueberry & Current Jelly

I have extracted juice for a batch of Blueberry Rhubarb Jelly.  They have all turned out very good so far I think.  I have small amounts of each for Rod to try when he gets here on Thursday - he is a great taste-tester and is always telling me I should sell my stuff, so we'll see what his opinion is!

I thought I had more blueberries than I do - one of the full gallon bags turned out to be blackberries.  I will save those for us since they are some we picked in Oregon and aren't local.  All the rest of the fruit is local.  I used all organic sugar in the recipes.  I will be decorating the jars with fabric tied with raffia and a hangtag describing the variety.  I will post pictures when I have some all done up.  Next, I need to settle on a price to charge.  Somewhere between $5 and $10...  There is a company in a nearby town that sells wild jams & jellies at $5 for a 4 oz jar. 

I picked some red huckleberries yesterday, but not quite enough for jelly.  I also need more blueberries, so I will get on my raingear and venture out into the rain today.  Hopefully Clover and I can find a good, productive patch!!

Carnival of Home Preserving

Jennifer at Quiverfull Family is hosting this week's Carnival of Home Preserving.  This is a really cool way to look around and see what other people have been preserving and get some great ideas!  Visit it at:  http://quiverfullfamily.com/blog/2008/07/28/the-carnival-of-home-preserving-july-28-2008

I submitted a link, so you will see how to can rhubarb.  What have you been canning - have you blogged about it?  You should submit it for next week's carnival - just click here:  http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_4663.html

Canning Rhubarb in Syrup

I decided it was time to harvest my rhubarb - I picked most of it!  It was starting to look more like a jungle than a garden - I probably should have harvested awhile ago.  I was able to get to the raspberry bushes and get them tied up before they start getting ripe - the bushes are pretty loaded!

I clipped off the rhubarb leaves and put them in the compost and brought the stalks in.

It took me awhile to wash and chop the stalks, sorting out the bad ones as I went.  I put them in a big bowl.

I measured 20 cups into one big pot with 5 cups of sugar and 16 cups into another big pot with 4 cups of sugar, stirring to combine well.  The directions said to set aside for 3 to 4 hours and let the juices come out.  It was already late, so I put them in the fridge overnight.  Tonight, this is what it looked like - lots of juice!

Next, I brought the mixture to a boil and got my canner ready for boiling water bath.  Got the jars, lids and rings ready too.  These kind of projects make me wish for a bigger stove, or bigger kitchen.

Then fill up the jars, wipe rims, fit with hot lid and ring.

Then lower into the hot water in the canner, making sure there is a couple inches of water above the jars.  Bring to boil (this took forever!) and boil for 15 minutes.  I put the lid on the canner to keep in the heat.

Let sit in the canner for 5 minutes after turning off the heat before you take out the jars.  Then I just put them on a towel on the counter.  I had extra to taste - it is very good, just the right amount of sweet for the tart I think.  I look forward to using it for rhubarb crisp, as a pie filling, over ice cream...  I ended up with 13 pints and 1 half-pint - hope they all seal!  I'm pleased that they kept their color, I worried about them looking like yucky mush  :o)

Canning More Salmon

I am working on another canner load of sockeye salmon tonight.  This will bring our total up to 56 pints.  All I can say is I'm getting tired of fish  :o)  But I know it will be so worth it every time I open a jar!  Here is a picture of my canning so far...

We also have 10 fish in the freezer to smoke and can up when Rod gets home.  Aren't you looking forward to that honey?  :o)

I picked a few blueberries yesterday and made some muffins today.  They were very good.  I used fresh eggs from the chickens.  They are in back in production now - they have blessed us with 2 dozen in the last 6 days!  Yeah!!

Only two weeks until my Becoming an Outdoors Woman weekend.  I will be flying to Haines and staying for 3 days and learning all sorts of cool stuff!  The classes I am taking are:  dutch oven gourment, field dressing, salmon fishing, and chainsaw.  I am looking forward to meeting ladies who share similar interests!  My dad has pointed out a bunch of trees for me to take down on the property after I take my chainsaw class, so I will get lots of practice right off the bat!  Can't wait!

Canning Projects

I am canning more sockeye salmon tonight.  This brings us up to 33 pints.  I have enough fish to do another batch of 14 pints tomorrow night.

There are a few good sales at the stores this week.  I am trying to decide if the prices are low enough that I should buy some to preserve - can or freeze.  They have red or black plums for $1.79/lb, green or red grapes for $0.99/lb, zucchini for $0.99/lb, and green beans for $1.98/lb.  I would like to make Rod some plum jam.  Also, I have been wanting to try making some plum sauce - the kind at the chinese restaurant is so yummy!  I'm on the lookout for more good sales as they come up.  I would love to get pears again and can them.  We just finished up a couple jars from 2 years ago and they were GREAT!

The blueberries should be getting ripe now and this weekend I will have to go find some.  With those I will make jam, pie filling and maybe just can them by themselves.  I could freeze them too, but I'm trying to can more and free up the freezer space  :o)  My red currents are just starting to ripen, so I'll need to think about what I want to do with them.

What have you been canning?  Have you tried anything new this year?

Canning This Week

We bought 8 sockeye this week and I picked them up Thursday.  I filleted them that night and stuck them in the fridge.  Total filet weight was 44 pounds - average of 5.5 pounds per fish.  Yesterday, I canned up 14 pints (used just a bit more than 3 fish), vacuum sealed the other filets and froze them.  Aren't they pretty?!?  :o)

Canning Projects

Since Rod is not here and fishing for us this summer, we are buying our fish.  We get it directly from the fisherman, so it is as fresh as you can get!  Last week was our first batch of 4 sockeye.  I cooked one up fresh and it was fantastic!  The other three I filleted and canned - each fish was about 4 pounds of fillets and made 4 jars.  My plan is to get a few each week and can - to spread out the work.  The goal is 100 pint jars.  12 down, 88 to go...

We also plan to do up some more of the smoked salmon that we then can.  We tried it for the first time last year and it was so yummy and convenient!  We did those in half pint jars and that is the perfect amount to open up and snack on.  Somehow, we have a few jars left...  I think there are 5 jars left out of 33.  Rod has tried hard to spread out how many we use, so we may have to try to make more than that this year!

Canning Venison

I am glad to have this weekend "off" - I have been doing craft shows each weekend this month!  So today I'm working on cleaning house and getting caught up on projects I've been wanting to do. 

Rod and a couple guys from work went hunting earlier this month.  Ryan shot a deer and gave us a front quarter which was so great.  This morning I cut the meat off the bone, carefully removed all the fat and sinue.  I cut the meat into stew sized pieces and got them ready for the canner.  Here are my instructions from when we canned moose last year:  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/alaska/27891/ .  I ended up with 4 pints, so we will be able to have one per week in January.  If you haven't tried canned meat, you should.  It comes out so tender and flavorful.  Not to mention it is so convenient - just have to heat it up!  We have used it as shredded meat in tacos, added to soup or stew, or served with gravy over potatoes or egg noodles.

I have some whole chickens in the freezer that I want to can also - I'll have to get together with my friend Charity and do that.  Do you have any favorites with canned chicken?

I also bought 2 bags of Granny Smith apples that were on sale on my last shopping trip.  I want to can some apple pie filling with those.  We'll see how much I can get done in the next few days!

Trying to Post Photos with Photobucket

I am learning something new today - I have uploaded some pictures to Photobucket and I will attempt to have them show up here...  Here it goes!

Cool!  Looks like it worked, maybe just a bit big... 

I slept in today - last day of vacation and I think I earned it   I did the laundry, made the bed and then decided to start my canning project.  I looked up online how to can meat at home and found this:  http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/infores/pubs/fypubs/wp400.pdf  It goes over how to can meat and poultry.  I also had instructions from a friend's husband, who cans his venison.  So I ended up browning the meat in the frying pan in some olive oil.  I seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  I filled the jars with the meat, leaving 1 inch at the top.  I then added a can of beef broth and a can of water to the juice in the pan and heated it up.  I ladled the liquid over the meat, still leaving 1 inch headspace.  Wipe rims, put on lids and rings.  Then I started another batch in the frying pan.  In another pot, I mixed a can of tomato paste with some water to make tomato juice and brought that to a boil.  When the second batch was done cooking, I filled the jars with the meat and added the tomato juice instead of the broth mixture. 

I loaded up the canner and processed them at 10 pounds pressure for 75 minutes.  They are out of the canner now, so we will see if they have all sealed.

Tonight we are making burgers, potatoes and gravy.  I have a loaf of bread rising right now - fresh bread is just the best!

Another Productive Sunday!

Our friends took us out halibut fishing yesterday - no luck.  Rod went out with them again today and I watched one of the little ones.  Jillian stayed and helped me in the kitchen.  We made strawberry peach jam, dill pickles, banana bread, and canned mexican meat sauce.  She was a good helper - she's almost 4.  The fishermen came back late with one halibut that I fileted and vacuum packed for the freezer.  I kept one portion out to have fresh.

Tomorrow I'm taking the afternoon off to make honey with Aundrea - the 10 year old.  It has been our tradition the last few years to make some while she is up for the summer.  She is supposed to leave next Saturday, so we have to get it done!  The recipe we use takes fireweed flowers, red clover and white clover - so we will be on an adventure to find our ingredients.

Canning Salmon

I started another load of salmon in the smoker yesterday.  Charity came over and helped keep an eye on it.  She had a couple errands to do, so the three oldest kids stayed and we baked.  They each made their own recipe.  They seemed to have alot of fun!

Today Charity came over and we worked on canning Sockeye Salmon.  We got it all brined and packed in the jars.  One sockeye makes about 2 pint jars.  One of the jars broke while loading the canner - was able to save the fish though and will make Salmon Patties for dinner tomorrow.  She went home since it was getting close to dinner time and all that was left was waiting...  I was sure I heard another of the jars break, but when I unloaded the canner, everything was okay.  I talked to my Aunt who cans fish all the time, and she said it could have been a flaw in the jar, or that I had the water in the canner too hot to start off with.  So I will try just warm water in the canner next time, not boiling when I load the jars.  Here are the jars packed and ready for the canner:

Here are my instructions:

How to Can Salmon

1. Select only strictly fresh fish, preferably killed, bled and cleaned at fishing grounds.
2. Filet the salmon, first one side, and then the other.  Leave rib bones to add calcium if they adhere to the flesh.  Skin the filets.
3. Cut the sides into can lengths.
4. Place pieces in brine to draw out the blood (1/4 cup salt to 1 gallon water) for 10 to 60 minutes according to the thickness of the fish.  If the meat is soft, soak it 1 to 2 hours in brine (2 cups salt to 1 gallon water).
5. While fish is in the brine, prepare your jars.  Pint jars are recommended.  Wash and dry jars in hot water and set aside.  Put enamel lined lids (Ball brand) in boiling water to activate seals.  Have ready your screw rings as well. 
6. Drain fish well before packing into jars.  Pack tightly into jars to within 1 inch from top.  Add no water or salt.
7. Wipe rims and place hot lid onto jar.  Screw ring onto jar and tighten just finger tight – until you feel a little resistance.
8. Pour about 1 to 2 inches of warm water into the bottom of the pressure canner.  Arrange jars in canner on rack so they don’t touch the bottom or sides of the canner, and so they don’t touch each other. 
9. Bring canner up to temperature and process pints for 100 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
10. After pressure has gone down, remove jars from canner and cool on a towel on counter.  Any jars that do not seal should go immediately into the refrigerator.
11. Remove rings from jars to prevent rusting.  Store jars in a dark, dry place.

Here are the finished jars, ready to remove from canner.  My canner handles up to 14 pints - two layers.  It is an All American - very nice!

Canning Meat Sauce

Safeway had ground beef on sale this week for $1.59/pound, so I planned to buy 20 pounds.  They only had 7, so I had to get a raincheck for the rest.  That actually worked out good because now I can go in whenever I want (within the next 90 days) and I don't have so much to deal with at one time. 

Tonight I decided to can some meat sauce for spaghetti.  I followed a recipe, but used canned tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes.  The large cans of sauce (106 oz) are $1.79 at Costco which is much cheaper than I can buy the smaller cans and a whole lot cheaper than fresh tomatoes. 

Meat Sauce
1 1/2 large cans tomato sauce (160 oz)
5 pounds ground beef
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onions, chopped
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons oregano
4 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons black pepper

Brown ground beef in large skillet.  Add garlic and onions.  Drain off fat.  Place beef in large stockpot.  Add rest of ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and leave on a simmer.  Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace.  Adjust lids and process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes for quarts. 

My recipe made 7 quart jars.  I had a problem with 4 of them not sealing - I think I didn't drain off enough of the fat and it prevented the lid from making a good seal.  I just put them in the refrigerator and will put in ziplocs to freeze when they are cool.

Smoked Salmon

We spent most of the weekend processing Sockeye Salmon.  We smoked a couple and canned about 5.  This is about the 3rd year for us smoking salmon.  I have a great book by Jack Whelan called "Smoking Salmon & Trout - plus Pickling, Salting, Sausaging & Care".  It covers everything you need to know - even shows how to filet!  So we pretty much follow the book as far as the brine and the smoking process and the fish turns out fantastic.  It does take the better part of a day, but the product is tasty!
We begin with the whole salmon and filet it out, leaving the skin on.  We cut the bellies off this time and did them separately which worked good since they are so much thinner than the rest.  After the filets are ready, we mix up the brine.  The recipe is 2 gallons water, 9 cups pickling salt, 3 cups brown sugar.  Our smoker handles about 4-6 fish at a time and this is plenty of brine.  We put the brine in a large plastic tub.  Cut the filets whatever size you want and put into the brine.  The fish is left in the brine depending on the thickness - 1 inch leave in 1 hour, 2 inches leave in 2 1/2 hours.  Don't leave in the brine too long or it will come out too salty.  Stir frequently.  Rinse the fish after removing from brine and place on rack to dry.  We usually brine in the evening, put the fish on the smoker racks and place in the oven overnight with the oven light on and the oven door slightly open.  Here is our load of fish ready for the smoker:

In the morning, we put the fish in the smoker and start the fire - we have a propane smoker and put it on the lowest heat setting with the door propped open and the draft openings shut.  We bring the temperature to 100 degrees and keep it there for 3 hours.  We then add hickory chips to the chip box (about 1/3 full), turn the heat up a bit until we get them smoking keeping the door open so the temperature doesn't climb.  Then turn the heat back to low.  Keep the smoke going and the temperature at 100 degrees for 1 hour.  The next step is very important to avoid white curds coming to the top of the fish - it is called tempering.  During this next hour, gradually raise the temperature to 175 degrees.  Keep the smoke going.  Now keep the temp at 175 degrees and the smoke going for an additional hour.  After this, the thinner pieces will probably be done, the thicker ones need another hour of smoking.  Here I am with our finished product:

After we let the fish cool, we vacuum pack them and freeze.  It is very good just by itself with crackers, and wonderful as Smoked Salmon Spread.  Here is my recipe:

2 cups smoked salmon
8 oz. cream cheese
2 t. lemon juice
1 or 2 green onions, chopped
Garlic powder to taste
Combine all ingredients and blend with mixer.  Serve with crackers.  We like Wheat Thins.  Enjoy!

Canning Chili

And more Pickles!

We finished up the rest of the pickles today after I restocked our vinegar and spices.  I did my crinkle-cut ones as Sweet Pickles - man did they smell good!  I ended up with 4 quarts and one pint that I put in the fridge.  Charity came over and we did her whole pickles.  All together we did 45 quarts of pickles.

Rod went fishing with his friend and caught 3 halibut!  They picked me up on the way back into the valley and I helped fillet, skin and pack.  There was about 16 pounds of fish.  I'll have to make it tomorrow night, I had some hamburger to cook up tonight.  I whipped up a big batch of chili.

Pickles, Pickles, Pickles!

My friend Charity and I spent about 7 hours making pickles today – she also bought a box.  We quartered some, left some whole and made some into crinkle chips.  We ran out of vinegar and spices, so will have to finish things up tomorrow.  We used Quick Dill Pickle recipe on all so far, adding 1/8 teaspoon alum to each quart jar.  My chips will be sweet chips.  The ones that I soaked overnight are the ones I used to make spears, we did not put alum in their jars.  It will be painful to have to wait a whole month to try them - I really hope they turn out good!

Here is Charity's daughter and one of the two trays of pickling cucumbers...

Here I am filling up some jars to go into the water bath...

Choosing a pickle recipe

Purchased box of pickling cucumbers (about 22 pounds) at A&P for $25.  Looked through many recipes for dill pickles and picked out a few.  Soaked about 4 pounds in water/pickling salt mixture overnight.

Cherry Pie Filling and Zesty Salsa

Made Cherry Pie Filling (8 x batch) – 15 pints.  Cherries were on sale for $1.78/lb – bought 9 pounds.

Made Zesty Salsa – 3 pints & 12 half pint jars.  On the vine tomatoes were on sale for $.99/lb – bought 6 pounds.

Peach Butter

Peach butter didn’t set up, so we have Peach sauce!  Four 12 oz jars, two 8 oz jars.

More Strawberries...