Why I Love Canning

My mother canned when I was growing up, but I unfortunately never paid enough attention to learn how to can from her.  After I became a mother, though, I had a desire to learn how to can and to see jars of freshly canned items line my pantry shelves.  So, when I asked my husband for canners for Mother's Day, I am sure he thought I had lost my mind, but he got them for me anyway.  I decided to spend a Saturday familiarizing myself with the pressure canner and spent the entire day canning apples. (I now know that they didn't need to be pressure canned.)  I was so very excited when I completed the project without blowing up the house.

The thing I love most about canning, though, is the convenience that it offers down the road.  For example, since I am now back to work, I have to come up with a quick meal to get on the table when we get home every night.  I am usually putting something together while my husband and son feed the cows and dogs.  This past Tuesday, I had put a roast in the crock pot before leaving for work and when I got home, opened a quart of home-canned red potatoes and a pint of home-canned peas.  I made some quick 3-2-1 biscuits and it made for a quick, but delicious meal.  It is much easier to pass up the fast food restaurant on the way home when you know you have something that can be put together in under 30 minutes.

Here is a picture of the potatoes that I cooked.  I opened the jar and drained the liquid.  Poured the potatoes into a Pam-sprayed glass pie plate, sprinkled on my seasonings of choice (I used onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere's), sprayed them with Pam again so the skins would get crisp, and stuck them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.