Food Preservation Is An Addiction

The Husbeast gave me the best Yule present ever this past holiday season:  A vintage 16 quart Magic Seal pressure canner!  (oh and the Presto 7 piece canning accessory kit)

Picture from the E-bay auction, pre-cleaning

Since then we have been canning meat and veggies like crazy!  In fact, we had to raid my mother's old canning supplies since we ran out and had more canning to do.  This actually worked out well, since she feels she is far too busy to be doing canning anymore and we promised her we'd share our tasty bounty with here whenever she wanted.  Win/Win!

We have some pickles, cabbage, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, stew beef, ground beef, pork chunks, chicken chunks, and pounds and pounds of BACON all canned up and shining with yummy goodness.  I will admit, I giggle a little when I look in my cupboards or in the basement pantry and see these wonderful filled jars standing in rows.

Next to these tasty treasures are jars of dehydrated vegetables.  Our food dehydrator is another wonderful kitchen implement I don't know how we ever did without!  Pull out a handful of veggies, soak for a bit, cook them up, and it tastes damn near fresh!  Even the corn tastes just like you cut it off the cob.  So good!

Product photo.  Ours has additional trays

I still want to find an old cast iron meat grinder, a grain mill, apple peeler/corer, Popcorn air popper, and a vacuum sealer to help finish up my "must have in the kitchen" list.

I feel proud that I am making a healthy change for my family.  With the dehydrator and the addition of the canner, we can have "convenient" foods on hand, but without all the unhealthy additives and preservatives.  No unpronounceable ingredients on the menu, just good food.

Is it wrong that I get such a delight out of hearing the wonderful PING! of jars sealing?

If it is, I don't want to be right!

Later, Darklings!