Harvest Time

You know it's harvest season when, within TWO hours, your friend, mother, and mother-in-law all offer to give your their tomatoes. It's really a fun time of year. In fact, since peaches went on sale at Harmon's, my mother-in-law taught me how to can them. When I finished canning peaches, I stopped by my mom's, only to find her baking zucchini bread. I enjoyed a slice, but didn't take any home. Good thing, because the next morning, my good friend left a loaf on my door step. Yep! and it was delicious! So much goodness and so little time. Last week, I made a "Harvest Soup," which means, I made up a soup that contained home grown corn, zucchini, and onions. Not too bad for an invented concoction. We ate it for two days.

And now for the peaches . . .

We turned these:

into this:

And here's how:

First we blanched the peaches (blanch, as I learned is a fancy word to describe the process where you stick peaches in boiling water to make the skin come off more readily.

Here are the jars, sitting in the oven to remain sterilized until we cut the peaches.

Here are the jars filled with peaches, just before we put them in the canner:

When the peaches were done boiling, we took them out and waited for them to cool. It's fun to listen for the "pop" that lets you know the lid has sealed.

Thanks, Karen. I had a great time! Now I know how to can peaches. I wonder what I will learn next. Any ideas anyone?