Challenge: Canning Blueberries

Ahhh, the sound of jar lids popping.  A sound that means I did something right.  An affirmation.  My newly canned blueberries will survive unrefrigerated for months and then, in the middle of January, when all is frozen and barren, my kitchen will fill with the delicious smell of a blueberry dessert...

Home preservers tend to wax poetic at the thought of local peaches in February or strawberry jam all year round that hasn't flown in from Chile or Argentina.  That's definitely how I feel, although part of the pride in my canned fruits simply comes from the sweat dripping all over the place as I try to quickly pour hot berries into glass jars while the steam from a giant pot of boiling water fills the kitchen.

Canning is hot, sticky, and messy but well worth the effort.  Challenge yourself and give it a try (just choose a cool evening to do it)!  My simple endeavors this evening took just an hour and from it I got three pint jars of blueberries.  I will use them in blueberry bread, perhaps a pie, or simply mixed with a sugary syrup and poured over ice cream.

Canned Blueberries
From: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

What you'll need to make three pint jars of berries:

• Four pints of fresh blueberries
• Three pint jars, three rings, and three lids, cleaned/sterilized
• A large square of cheesecloth
• Tongs
• A giant canning pot filled with boiling water
• A jar rack for the pot
• A small pot of boiling water
• A bowl of cold water
• A towel

Nice additions that aren't necessary:

• A jar lifter
• A funnel

Links to supplies: pot+rack, complete canning kit

First, fill the giant pot of water and start heating it on the stove.  It will take forever to boil so I suggest watching an episode of The Daily Show while you wait.

Once the water is close to boiling, start heating your small pot of water.  While you wait, wash the blueberries and make sure the stems are removed.  Fold the cheesecloth once so that you have a double layer and lay it flat on the counter.  Grab a big handful of berries and put them in the middle of the cloth.  Take each of the four corners of the cloth and hold the berries up like a bag.  Dip them in your small pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then place in the cold water for 30 seconds.

Fill up a jar with the berries, leaving a half inch of space between the top of the jar and the berries.  Lightly press down on the berries and add a few more if you've got a little more than half an inch of room.  (NOTE: I don't think I added enough berries to each jar so make sure you do press them down!)

Using the tongs, pick up a lid and hold it in the boiling water for about 15 seconds.  Now place the lid on the jar and screw on the ring.  The ring should not be tight, you just want light resistance as you screw it on.  Finish filling the other jars using the same steps above.

Your giant pot of water should be ready now.  Carefully load the jars onto the rack in the pot and lower the rack into the water.  You want at least an inch or more of water to cover the jars when they're submerged.  Cover the pot and process the jars for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes pull the jars out of the water and place them on a towel on the counter (never directly on the counter).  Wait for the gratifying pop of the lids as they vacuum seal shut.

Now feel immense pride at your handiwork!

Vinegar Is My Best Friend

Vinegar is truly my best friend.  I love it.  It's so versatile!  I use it for cleaning glass, counter tops, table tops, the toilet bowl, grout in the shower, and the stove top.  Mix up half vinegar, half water in a bottle and you're ready to power clean.

I hear all of you out there, muttering and grumbling: "vinegar is stinky and there is no way it is as antibacterial as bleach".  I can't prove you wrong on the stinky part but I promise you the smell dissipates in 30 seconds or less and does not linger.  Ask my roommates!

As far as the antibacterial cleaning properties of vinegar I have some research for you.  I am no longer a student so I don't have access to awesome scientific journals anymore but I did find this research article that concludes "A variety of commercial household disinfectants were highly effective against potential bacterial pathogens. The natural products were less effective than commercial household disinfectants. Only Clorox and Lysol disinfectant were effective against poliovirus."  Okay, so that doesn't support my cause.

Keep looking and you'll find a number of articles that talk about the properties of vinegar versus other popular cleaning products.  You are right, using bleach effectively eliminates almost all bacteria.  But using vinegar does eliminate most of it and if you're a healthy 20-something there is no reason for you to be using bleach (in my humble opinion).  Especially if you're diligent about cleaning!

Ready to try it out?

I have repurposed an old spray bottle and pour in half white vinegar and half water.  Then spritz away!  If the smell really gets to you try adding a few tablespoons of lemon or lime juice (I've never personally tried this but I hear it works).

Introduction

Let's talk about what I like.  I like to explore cities, parks, forests, kitschy stores, farmer's markets, and more.  I like to challenge myself to reduce my energy use, chemical use, and material use.  I like to create things from old stuff, new stuff, barely used stuff, and stuff that's been thrown out.  And I like to blog.

Today (maybe because work went well and a storm is approaching and my sunflowers are growing like crazy) I was inspired to begin a new blogging adventure.  I've created this blog so I can share with everyone some of the fun and creative things I've discovered in books, on the web, and from my own little brain.  These things I want to share with you will hopefully shed some light on how you can green your life and feel like you haven't changed a thing!  (I left any mention of "green" out of my blog's title to get you to read it!)

Soon I'll post about my favorite product: vinegar!