Canning Queen

I am not a Canning Queen, and most likely never will be.  When I was a kid, my mom canned things occassionally.  She also did things like bake homemade bread, and make homemade applesauce, etc.  We didn't eat much packaged foods.  Cakes, pasta sauce, pretty much everything, was from scratch. 

When we were a little older and my mom went back to college to get her degree (go mom!), more packaged foods found their way into our lives.  Eventually it became just normal instead of 'convenience food.'  I suppose it's like that for everyone now.  Even those of us that grew up eating nothing out of a box, eat things out of boxes all the time.  And canning food?  Who does that anymore?  Not me, that's for sure.  I don't think there's ever been a moment in my life when I was at the grocrey store and saw a great deal on tomatoes and thought, hey, I could can those, and save myself some money, and help the environment.  We don't can things!  We are not a canning people.

I freeze things, though.  I freeze things all the time.  If I have extra veggies, I chop them and throw them into a baggie, into the freezer.  When I have leftover veggie peels and veggie bits I boil a pot of stock, divide it into baggies, and into the freezer.  I suppose canning isn't much different in principal.  Why shouldn't I be canning things once in a while?  Technically, canning is better for our health, even better for the environment, than buying veggies at the grocery store that someone else canned. 

I actually already have a bunch of canning jars in the pantry because I needed a couple for something last year.  Maybe I'll give this canning thing a try.  I don't have a pressure cooker so I apparently have to stick to "high-acid" stuff like fruit and pickles, but this vegetarian wasn't about to try to can meat anyway, so it's all good.  I think today I'm going to try out a recipe for giardinerre (is that how you spell that?) - spicy pickled veggies.  If I can get the recipe right, maybe I'll can a few jars. 

Does anybody out there can anything?  What do you can?  I bet you don't.  Nobody cans anymore.  We are not a canning people!

Happy eating!