I never thought I’d can. Way too scary. I guess I was feeling brave… or at least adventurous.The past few years I’ve frozen fresh peaches. We figured out how to blanch and peel. Hannah is my helper with peaches. On Saturday Abe was also a happy helper with freezing.
Later in the afternoon, Hannah helped me can. We blanched and peeled and sliced and pitted and sterilized lids and washed jars and waited for ages for the water bath to boil (no really – it was like 45 minutes) we timed and hoped and ended up with 7 quarts and 7 pints.
In the end, they are lovely, at least the quarts. I kept telling Jimmy to remind me that I never wanted to can again. I just am not sure all the tiring work was worth the small amount I canned. Mostly I think I worry about botulism. I’m the mom who overcooks all meat just to be sure it’s not raw. So my worried mom brain stepped in and researched botulism. Aaaak! All of our jars sealed so hopefully we’re good to go. And as long as the peaches aren’t mushy… perhaps the fresh peach taste in the middle of winter will make it worth it.
p.s. would never do pints again. i halved the peaches. and i felt like i could hardly squeeze any in there. same amount of time… fewer peaches per hour of work.
p.p.s. i used a million bowls and pans in this project. remember how many dishwasher loads it was? a lot!
p.p.p.s. i hope i dare to open and eat them!
