I canned everything in sight for about 4 1/2 years back in North Dakota--there everybody canned---that was 40 years ago!! We kept the jars down in the basement, and it was wonderful to go down there and just see all those jars. I had over 400! Canned everything from crab apple juice to tomatoes, peaches, pears, cherries, no end of preserves (never did care for jelly---tried it once and you could pave the street with it! I couldn't even get it out of the pan it was so hard! I had to reheat enough to melt it a little and then I threw it out in a corner of the back yard---it's probably still there!!) We used to love toasting banana nut bread butter it and then mash the canned pears and spread that on top - mmm. I've done occasional canning throughout the years, never again like that. Once I planted 13 tomato plants---I canned 3-4 quarts a day--every day throughout that summer! And do not ever plant 3 zucchini plants! I had zucchini pickle relish--the kids would not eat a hot dog without it--made zucchini bread and froze it--, ate it every day every which way--I finely ground up the zucchini in batches to make the bread---and everybody grew it so I couldn't even give it away!!!
I now live in Las Vegas and have trouble growing anything. Missed one day of watering cause hubby was sick and even my rosemary died! Official temp was 111---our thermometer read 116--and that was in the shade!
In North Dakota the elderly couple next door made their own wine and dandelion wine was a favorite---no one mowed their lawns until the dandelions were picked---that stuff would grow hair on your chest! And, of course, everybody made chokecherry wine. When we moved back to California, we gave 4 gallons of it away cause we did not want to transport it. I did can pasta sauce once---takes hours then you have to process it. It made it without any meat. Though many of the old cooks put up meats also---I was scared to. Just cook up you favorite sauce , cook it down to a little thicker than normal, and process according to the latest recommendations. You can thin it down with fresh tomatoes when you open them for a fresher taste.
I still do put up some mustard some times---it's a hot, brown, sweet mustard made with apple cider vinegar. Husband loves it. And it takes egg yolks. Never have processed it-takes about 2 hours to cook, pour into sterilized jars and seal. I never processed the preserves, I think nowadays they recommend it. We used paraffin over the tops back then.
years ago, my husband found a jar of pickles we had canned 8 years before that---they were the best ever!! They don't recommend eating anything that old! I had garlic and a hot chili and a dill sprig in the jar.
