Usually during the winter, I can meats, beans and stock. Then in the summer, I can fruits and veggies and I makes lots of pickles. We now have more food in the pantry that I canned than we have of food that was commercially canned. Let me tell you, that is a GREAT feeling.
The other day when I got the sales paper, I noticed Palisade peaches were on sale for 98 cents a pound.
Palisade Peaches are rarely less than $1.99/lb near me so I immediately began imagining all the things I could can from those peaches (peach jam, peach salsa, peach pie filling, sliced peaches...) and figuring up how many pounds I would need.
And I thought..."Welp...you can tell I'M A CANNER!"
And that sparked an idea for "You Know You're A Canner When..." a fun list of all those so-called crazy things canners do.
I started to jot down just a few things, but soon the ideas were flowing. I just kept writing them down...then I asked Mr. LH for ideas (he could see some of my quirky habits better than I could)...
I turned some of the list into a printable...
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"You Know You're A Canner When..." digitable printable on Etsy. Or purchase it already printed for you from Zazzle. |
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"You Know You're a Canner when..." t-shirt available on Etsy (as shown), on Amazon, on Zazzle or on Redbubble. |
But I wound up with so many more phrases than I could fit on any one printable or shirt (I'll have to make another soon)...so they're being listed here for your enjoyment.
How many of them describe you?
You Know You're A Canner When...
- You can spot a vintage jar from across the thrift store.
- A weekend spent canning at home sounds perfect.
- (insert random food) goes on sale and you buy 20 pounds.
- You go back to the store the next day because the 20 pounds you just bought won't be nearly enough for everything you discovered you could can with it.
- You refer to food as either "high acid" or "low acid."
- You can identify the age of a jar by looking at its logo.
- You find yourself eyeing the neighbor's fruit trees.
- Mason jars have replaced your drinking glasses, your flower vases, and your plastic food storage.
- You plan your garden based on your canning recipes.
- Your freezer has more scraps than food.
- You feel guilty buying commercially canned food.
- You stare lovingly at your pantry shelves.
- You think pressure is a good thing.
- You give canned food away and worry you'll never see those jars again.
- Extra canning rings are stored everywhere in your home...in bins, on bungee cords, on hangers...everywhere!
- You have to move because your jar stash has outgrown your home.
- You are not at all concerned about the zombie apocalypse (or a power outage/blizzard, etc).
- You look forward to cleaning out the freezer.
- You're more excited about making stock from the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving than you are about the holiday. (I am also guilty of buying extra turkeys on sale just for canning)
- You have an impressive jar stash (and it keeps growing).
- The "PING" of sealing jars is music to your ears.
- Your refrigerator is full of various half-full mason jars (and you're the only one who can identify everything).
- You put your life on hold because the (insert ripening food here) is finally "ready to be canned."
- Food goes on sale you immediately check to see if you can can it and dream up everything you can make with it.
- Your friends post pictures of their kids/grandkids/pets on social media. You post pictures of food in jars.
- You check out the canning exhibit at the county fair, critique everything, and wonder if it was all processed correctly.
- A stranger mentions canning and you feel like you've just met your bosom buddy.
- You buy jars whenever they go on sale because...they're jars.
- You tell people you're growing "salsa" and "pickles" in the garden.
- You're the only person in the house who thinks the sound of the pressure canning weight is soothing.
- Someone posts free or cheap jars and you treat it like it's an emergency (gotta get them first, right?).
- Your spices, dry goods and leftovers are all stored in mason jars.
- You have a kitchen shelf dedicated to canning books and canning journals.
- You can whip up a tasty meal in under 15 minutes with a stove, a pot and a few jars of canned food.
- Finding a hidden case of jars in your home is cause for celebration.
- A jar breaks in the canner and you observe a moment of silence for both the broken jar and the loss of food.
- You buy vinegar by the gallon.
- You find out Ball has a jar coupon in the newspaper so you buy 40 copies.
- Your kitchen looks like a crime scene after pickling beets or pitting cherries.
- You think “Canning Season” is year-round (because hello...it is).
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