Canned Apple Pie Filling, Tomato Soup, and Dilled Carrots

I am finally squirreling away some food for winter!  This is very exciting, as it means my back injury is healing and I am finally feeling up to it.  Can't understand how poorly I was feeling, but I am still on my target for 2013's garden ~ $450 worth of vegetables into my home!  I am now sitting around the $375 mark.

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

 These apples actually came from our old yard in Oak Lake ~ how sweet it was to meet the new owners and be given some of the plums and apples that we had all come to love.  They are now made into Apple Pie filling and we've been eating the rest just fresh!

Canned Apple Pie Filling

7 quarts chopped up apples (in salt water or lemon juice to keep fresh)
4 1/2 cups sugar ( I did 2 cups of brown, rest white)
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
10 1/2 cups water

Cook syrup.
Pack apples into hot sterilized jars with a 1/2 inch head space ( Don't over fill, or they boil over and can't seal)
Pour hot syrup into apple jars, wipe rims, put the lids on.
Hot water bath for 15 to 20 minutes.

I am generous with my spices and added some cloves as well.  Adjust to taste.  This makes a great Apple Crisp as well as pie.  One of my jars was too full, so it didn't seal ~ so we had apple crisp!  I love some opps!

Homemade Canned Tomato Soup

This is my first time canning Tomato Soup, but with a wheat allergy in the household, Campbells soup is out for us.  This will come in very handy for quick casseroles, etc.

Canned Tomato Soup (Wheat Free ~ Gluten Free)

12 lbs ripe tomatoes

6 onions

1 bunch parsley

1 head celery

2-4 bay leaves

8 whole cloves

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup margarine (for lactose intolerant) or Butter

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 cup cornstarch/ rice flour or mixture of both

Place first 8 ingredients in a large pot and boil for 2 hours.  Cool slightly and blend or put through a food processor.  Return to pot.  I strained some of mine with a cheese cloth, some use a sieve.  I just need to find a sieve, I think I would like it! Mix together sugar, margarine, cayenne and flour.  Add some cooled soup to make a paste.  Add slowly, while stirring to soup.  Heat, stir until thickened.  

Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.  Hot water bath for 20 minutes or 5 lbs pressure for 10 minutes in a pressure canner.

This recipe can easily be changed to add or remove spices that you like or dislike.  Some add some carrots, basil, etc.

Carrot comparison

The above photo shows the difference between thinning carrots or leaving them crowded.  We did a bit of an experiment in the community garden this year.  The ones on the Left were thinned (planted further apart) and the others were not.  Those were the larger ones too ~ most were very tiny and cute to eat, but not that productive.  The kids at the Community Garden will now plant theirs a little further apart ~ fun lesson learned!

Pickled Dilled Carrots

 Pickled Dilled Carrots OR Beans
1 large piece of dill (head) per jar
1 bay leaf per jar
2-4 cloves of garlic per jar
4 quarts firm carrots OR beans, washed and cut, etc
 4 cups water
4 cups vinegar
8 tbsp pickling salt

Put first 3 ingredients in your sterilized jars.  Pack with clean and prepared carrots or beans.  Bring water, vinegar and salt to a full boil.  Pour into jars and seal with sterilized lids.  Hot water bath for 15-20 minutes.
This recipe is basic and you could add different spices as well.

Look whooo showed up in the garden today, my daughters little creation!