Processing Peaches, Peppers and more....

I bought two boxes of Alberta peaches last week. These were beauties right off the trees locally. Some were as big as soft balls. I almost hated to cut them up. I lost a couple on the bottom of one box tho , they started to go bad but still I had tons to do. So I started out peeling them.

Dipping them in hot water for 30sec. and then into cold water, and the skins slip off ez. Ive saved all the skins to add to some I had in the freezer. Later on when all this canning dies down some, I want to make Peach honey, which is basically jelly. You cover the skins with water and cook them down and strain it to use the juice to make the jelly. 

 I sliced these up and put them in qt. jars. A friend told me he makes a light honey syrup. Last year I did a sugar syrup which was good but I think honey is better. So I bought a big bottle from the local honey guy at the farmers market. Only 7qts fit in the water bath canner so I did those with the honey syrup. When I was making more syrup for the rest I thought why not add cinnamon to the rest so I did. I got 12qts sliced peaches, 7 plain, 5 cinnamon. One didn't seal so I'm eating it with my yogurt this week.(Honey syrup for a light syrup is 1qt. water/3/4c. honey)

Then I peeled the other box and cut them up. They got tossed in the crock-pot with the leftover honey syrup, to cook down overnight. Today I added some organic sugar, some cinnamon and then I thought it needed something more so I added one tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. Its yummy. So these got canned in two batches in small half pts. I figure Ill use several as Christmas gifts this yr. 

 While I had the canner going I remembered I had peppers still in a big bag in the garage. They ripened even more and many turned yellow. There were also a couple reds and a few greens. I saved the green to freeze, roasted the others. I made a brine of 1c. lemon juice, 1c. white vinegar, 1c. homemade chive vinegar (could be 2c. white instead), 1c. olive oil, 2tsp. kosher salt and 3 sliced garlic cloves. I put some opal basil in the bottom of a couple of small jars then topped with the peppers. Then I poured the hot brine over them and sealed to water bath them too. 

I hated to waste the brine tho cuz I didn't have enough peppers to use it up so I had about 1lb. mushrooms. I sliced them up and tossed them in the brine. Then I added a few peppercorns and a few springs of thyme. I let them cook then filled two small jars with the mushrooms and topped them with the hot brine. Peppers and mushrooms were water-bathed for 20min. plus 5 extra just sitting in the hot water to ensure a good seal.

One slice of mushroom stuck to the pot so I tasted it......and omg they are really yummy! So I'm thinking I may do this again real soon when the big crush of canning is done here. They are worth keeping around. I use those peppers in omelets and salads and I use both in antipasto platters. Its nice to have my own around.

Tomorrow is tomato sauce. I have to get them going before they go bad. I have jars for it but I need to run more jars thru the dishwasher. Busy busy week here.