Canning season is now!! Here's how you can join in!

Y'all simply must start canning. It is a simple way to save a season for later in the year. I know you can do it!!

Here are two video tutorials that will help you along. You should definitely watch the jam-making one, not least because Oliver's voice is the most precious thing in the whole world, and you will die and fall in love with it and him. You will understand why several people have suggested I figure out a way to bottle his voice. 

Oliver and Emily make Shiro Plum & Basil Jam

The only update I wish to make is that Ball says you no longer need to heat the lids in hot water to soften the rubber flange. They are using a new rubber blend that doesn't need pre-softening.

Emily cans tomatoes

Here too is a list of canning equipment that will make your preservation efforts
more fun, easier and safer. 

• Freshest possible ingredients- Don’t use substandard ingredients; taste will suffer!
• Canning pot- a tall pot which can accommodate your jars and enough water to cover them during processing
• Canning rack- a pot insert that holds your jars safely in place during processing, preventing anxiety-producing sounds and cracked jars
• Jar lifter- silicone-covered tongs which make putting your jars into the pot and taking them out much safer and easier
• Stainless steel ladle- You need a ladle to fill your jars; stainless won’t leach or melt.
• Stainless canning funnel- A funnel reduces the chance that you’ll spill valuable jam over the sides of the jar; this makes a mess, is sticky and you risk burning yourself.
• Bubble remover- I use a chopstick, but you can also buy tools made specifically for bubbling your jams.
• Jars- aka Mason jars, popular brands include Ball, Kerr, Weck, and so forth.
• Lids and bands, or rubber rings if using Weck
• Pectin- liquid, powder, all-natural (Pomona’s); I use pectin very, very rarely. 
• Thermapen, candy thermometer, or the like
• Food mill- useful and/or necessary for certain recipes
• Jar labels- label what you canned and when 

Don't you want to have a magnificent stash like this?? You can! Hah!

Lovely involtini

Y'all, it is pouring brickbats here today. I don't mind at all because we really need the rain and I needed to film a tomato canning video anyway (I'm midway through, will then edit and post; fun!). But, our new roof sprung two leaks which is really damn annoying, and you can be sure I've already let the company know to come fix things ASAP. Sheesh. But, to last night's dinner, aka Eggplant Involtini. Involtini is an Italian word which simply refers to one food wrapped around another. The wrapper can be a thinly-sliced vegetable, like eggplant or zucchini, or meat, such as beef or pork. The filling is often a cheesecentric one with other goodies blended throughout.

To work with vegetable wrappers, you usually need to cook them a bit first. Last night, I sliced the eggplants lengthwise into quarter-inch slabs, laid them onto paper towels and then salted them so they could exude excess water. Afterwards, I patted them dry, brushed them with olive oil and then lightly fried them on both sides until just softened.

Meanwhile, I whipped together a filling of ricotta and feta cheeses, salt, a bit of olive oil, toasted pine nuts and generous, equal portions of chopped mint and parsley.

I spooned a teaspoon or two of filling onto one end of each eggplant slab, rolled the eggplant up like a jelly roll and tucked them, one by one, into a 9x13 baking dish.

A few hours before all this, I made a homemade tomato sauce by stewing together chopped Roma tomatoes, olive oil, minced garlic, a dried peperoncino (small hot chile) and salt. Once my baking dish was full of involtini, I laid the few remaining eggplant slices on top, spooned tomato sauce generously over the whole dish, grated Pecorino generously over that and baked until bubbly, about twenty minutes in a 375° F oven.

Both the eggplant and parsley were from M's garden, the tomatoes from A's farm and boy did this come together nicely; the dish tasted so unbelievably fresh.

Earlier, I made raspberry-lemon jam with the berries I picked last Friday. Unreal. Wow! Incredible! Today, in addition to the tutorial, I made another batch of roasted tomato jam. That biz is awesome.