Show us your canned produce

JustAnne4 · December 10, 2016, 11:42pm

Persimmons!!! Man are these good. Like candy.

tonyOmahaz5 · December 11, 2016, 10:52pm

Here is mine dehydrated persimmons in a one gallon ziplock. Great Winter treat.

Tony

subdood_ky_z6b · December 11, 2016, 10:56pm

So, I guess dried persimmons have lost their astringency? What is the flavor like, y’all mentioned they were sweet? What else?

JustAnne4 · December 11, 2016, 11:26pm

I received 2 large grocery bags from a friend who has a huge tree and has an overabundance to share. These were from a non-astringent tree…Fuyugaki, I think he said. I think I found 1 seed in the whole 2 bags.
@tonyOmahaz5 Did you peel yours? I used a mandolin slicer w/the thinnest giude and left the peels on. My 1st time doing these. I think the dried version is sweeter than the fresh.
@subdood_ky_z6b Well there are a number of opinions. All family members loved them. Some said they taste like papaya. I think more like dates. I’m not the best person to ask. @tonyOmahaz5 will do a better job.

tonyOmahaz5 · December 12, 2016, 12:25am

I peeled mine California Fuyu and make a slice a little thicker like 4 slices per one persimmon. I agreed they sweet like dates with some brown sugar flavor. I had three slices with my fry shrimps and fry sweet potatoes with sugar and cinnamon. Yum.

Tony

Olpea · December 12, 2016, 4:57pm

Here is the culmination of our summer canning. We canned over 50 quarts of salsa (which is about normal) but have eaten quite a bit already, and given a little bit away.

As an FYI, after I looked at the photo, I noticed I had a box which showed Duke’s mayonnaise. One of my daughter’s friends from Georgia turned us on to Duke’s. Now we try to get it any chance we get since my daughter lives in SC. It’s the best mayonnaise ever. We are stuck with Miracle Whip when we can’t get Duke’s.

All that said, I’m not a huge fan of all southern foods. I’ve had southern grits, blah. My daughters friend from GA tried to persuade us to try boiled peanuts in salt water - I’m sorry but I’ve had too many salted peanuts on airlines. I do love sweet southern tea, but Duke’s really has a handle on the mayonnaise.

speedster1 · December 12, 2016, 5:20pm

I agree. Once you go Dukes, you never go back. haha. We can buy it at Wal-Mart here. It’s the closest thing to Chick-Fil-A mayo that I can find.

Olpea · December 13, 2016, 2:06pm

I had to look up where you were from Speed (WV) and then looked up what states Duke is sold. In the process I came across this article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/dukes-mayonnaise-the-southern-spread-with-a-cult-following/2013/11/04/90f508a2-40e5-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html

Didn’t know I was part of a cult, lol.

Also, I hope I didn’t rile any of my southern friends about my comment on grits, I’ll mention it’s probably colored by my childhood experience of eating cream of wheat. My mother fed us that a lot as children to the point we were completely burnt out. Grits remind me a lot of cream of wheat. I think it’s the Midwest counterpart.

IowaJer · December 13, 2016, 3:44pm

Thanks for that very interesting read Olpea. Quite a lady! I’m getting some Duke’s today to try out.

Olpea · December 13, 2016, 4:03pm

You can’t beat it on a BLT. We eat a lot of those in the summer (like a couple times a week). Duke’s doesn’t taste like anything special just by itself, but on a sandwich we can definitely tell a difference. Sometimes I make potato salad or cole slaw and haven’t tried it in them, but I bet it would be good.

I’m glad you found it in IA. Duke’s has a plant right here in KC, but strangely, they don’t sell it in KC, that I’ve been able to find.

subdood_ky_z6b · December 13, 2016, 4:13pm

I’ve never heard of Duke’s, and I lived in TX for 30 years…But my wife has, said it was supposed to be good, but a bit more expensive. I don’t use mayo that much, like on a burger it’s mustard, lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato and jalapeño’s. My wife throws everything on hers, including mayo, ketchup and cheese.

I agree with you @Olpea, I really don’t care for grits either, but my wife likes them. They’re tasteless, and yes, too gritty. And, if they get cold, blech. Cream of wheat is OK, I grew up on that as well, but for a hot cereal, I like oatmeal, with coconut oil, stevia, and some cinnamon.

That’s a lot of salsa, 50qt?!? Is that one of your 4 food groups, along with tortilla chips?

Olpea · December 13, 2016, 4:15pm

Haha. Definitely. Sometimes that’s all I eat for lunch, chips and salsa.

Chris_in_GA · December 13, 2016, 11:54pm

Here is some duded up jars of homemade applesauce and apple butter my wife and daughter did that I am going to take to some clients. She ordered some labels online for the jar tops and printed my company name on them (pretty cool and cheap!). I think the clients will like them better than the standard christmas junk food that people tend to give.

subdood_ky_z6b · December 14, 2016, 4:08am

Very clever and stylish. I’m sure your clients will appreciate them more.

Just curious, what kind of apples did you use for the sauce? We have a lot of apples that might need to be made sauce. We already have lots of canned apple butter, and just cubed apples.

JustAnne4 · December 17, 2016, 1:19am

Holy cow! I was raised on Cream of Wheat and when we moved south, I couldn’t get enough grits…a perfect butter conveyor. Corn doesn’t do me well anymore so I was excited to find millet grits and like them even better.
I’ve seen Duke’s mayo. Gotta read the label and try it. I’m pretty choosy about which cults I follow, LOL.

MrClint · December 17, 2016, 6:52am

I grow veg and fruit for fresh eating year round, the only thing I put up are olives:

I’ve given away two to three 1/2 gallons this year, with two more gallons in my fridge.

JustAnne4 · December 17, 2016, 2:16pm

Kraut!!!
Just harvested 2 head of cabbage. Put one to this yesterday and one will be for slaw for Christmas dinner.

I have one sacrificial head outside under poly to see how much cold this variety can take. Growing cabbage through the winter is MUCH less work.

clarkinks · December 19, 2016, 8:02pm

@JustAnne4,
Would love to see a thread just on growing cabbage and making Kraut. My sister is good at that stuff and I don’t know much about it. Would love to grow a 100’ row of cabbage in late summer - Jan or Feb and make 5 gallons of Kraut at a time! How cold do the poly tunnels allow you to get? My guess is a outside temperature 0 - -10F.

JustAnne4 · December 20, 2016, 2:22pm

Wow Clark, that’s a lot of cabbage!! …and a lot of kraut.
IMHO it is easier to make small batches as you need it - of course, unless you plan to sell it, LOL.
The pic above is one head. Simply shred the cabbage (I like small shredded pieces, some folks like thin slices, the former is done faster than the latter) Save 1-2 outer leaves to cover the cabbage with.
Tare a bowl and weigh the shredded cabbage. Add 1.5 tsp canning salt per #, mix well and allow to sweat for ~ 20 minutes. This should produce enough brine to cover. Pack mixture into a jar and pound down just to remove air pockets and get liquid on top. Place reserved leaves on top and press around jar edges to keep slaw under water as shown above. Kraut is anaerobic. I use glass pucks as weights too. Set aside anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks depending on how mild/crunchy vs. sour/soft you like your kraut. If you aren’t sure, just unpack and taste, then repack to desired doneness. I used the bubbler shown to reduce the smell of any aerobic fermentation. Any mold on top can be disgarded and won’t hurt the final product.
Such lacto-fermented products are so good for digestion. I’ve also done kohlrabi this way with good results.
Edit: Whoops…about growing over winter. According to Elliot Coleman a simple polytunnel gains you 1 growing zone, say from 6a to 7a, and adding rowcover under the poly gains you another zone. I have one head under simple poly and will see what it can take. I’ve grown kohlrabi through our winters w/o any problems. We’ll see.