If you happened to come by my home for a visit recently, you just be asked to sit on the front porch while I served up some hot (or iced?) tea and some homemade blueberry pie.
You see, this past week, I was blessed to attain 150 lbs. of blueberries! I do not grow blueberries, although I wish I did (a tractor happened to drive over some of our blueberry bushes and our harvest is pretty much nil) – however, even if you cannot grow your produce, you can still find it locally to preserve it yourself. Perhaps you have a Mennonite market stand near you – or a farmer’s market that opens on the weekend – perhaps it is just grocery stores that carry the fruit or produce that you are looking for.
If you cannot grow it, you can still [most likely] find it.
If you are interested, I will post the recipe below for putting up blueberries.
May I encourage you to try it? Preserving your own food is an amazing blessing!
I *love* canning and putting away food for my family for the long winter months. An interesting fact … I barely have to go to the store when the winter rolls around because our all the canning and putting up that happens here during the summer months.
Sometimes we need the odd item from the store but for a family of 10, our grocery visits are very sporadic and the purchases are pretty limited. This is because of home canned goods, putting up food while it is in season, raising some chickens and turkey for meat and and utilizing our freezer system.
How to can blueberries:
Wash your blueberries, rinse and set aside.
Wash and sterilize all your jars. While you are doing this, heat up a kettle for your rings and lids. Once the water is hot, place your lids and rings into a pot of hot water which will sterilize your rings and soften the rubber for sealing.
In a second pot, prepare a juice [see blow] that you will pour over your berries.
Into the pot you will pour six cups of water with three cups of sugar – heated together to make a lovely syrup.
Canning blueberries is the most easiest of all projects … simply fill your jars with your freshly washed berries, pour the syrup over top, squeeze a squirt of lemon juice in each jar, wipe the rims, place your new lid and ring on top and put it into the water bath canner! You will process your jars according to your altitude. (Check the website below.)
So easy and so worth it – when the winter comes and you have beautiful jars of blueberries to use over oatmeal, in muffins, in cobblers and pies … what a blessing!
If you want specific measurements, try this website.
Now, to make a homemade pie, it is simple and easy – just use the pre-made pie dough I have already prepared and my jar of blueberies, sprinkle some sugar over top and with a minimum amount of effort, there will a hot, delicious pie awaiting your family …
Isn’t that simple? Don’t let the season of fresh produce slip by …. or you will miss out on this lovely way of old fashioned goodness for your family.
by Gigi
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