What are you canning now?

[canesisters]

$5/dozen down here

 

[ducks4you]

We can usually buy it for a lot cheaper bc we live in the middle of corn country. Every time a do a Google search I end up on a "sidequest", term used by DD bc of all of the videogames she has played. Saw this thread:
http://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/indian-corn
and came across this gem:
"...leave an ear out in the warm rain and the kernels sprout almost overnight. The seedlings suffer the collective fate of brutal sibling rivalry because corn is no longer able to reproduce on its own. This oddity isn't the result of modern genetic modification, but has been handed down to us because of the way Native Americans shaped the plant over the centuries."

 

[seedcorn]

Corn can't reproduce on its own? HUH?

 

[Beekissed]

Canning sweet corn right now. Have 3 doz. qts. done and probably another 18 qts. left to go before we call it quits. Froze a few qts as well.

After finishing up the sweet corn, we move on to the fire jam. While canning I'm cleaning out and clearing out the old and unwanted canned items to make room for more and doing a cleanout and reorganizing of the pantry/storage/tool room in order to make room and ease weight on certain shelves.

 

[Ridgerunner]

OK Bee, I'll bite. What's fire jam?

 

[Beekissed]

OK Bee, I'll bite. What's fire jam?

Historically called hot pepper butter but it's not a butter, but more like a spread or a hot, vegetable jam. We used to grind the peppers and then cook them down and it would be a cross between a hot relish and a spread, but now we pulse the peppers in the blender for a smooth hot pepper jam like texture.

It's only the best sandwich spread you could ever want but also great as a rub on hams, steaks, on any number of foods as a sauce and also is a great dip additive. It has mustard, brown sugar, salt, etc. in it and is thickened with corn starch to the desired thickness.

I think I have a pic of some fire jam spread on some homemade bread...let me dig that up...here's some canned into a jar.

And some on bread...love to eat it with breakfast foods, like these grits.

 

[seedcorn]

Sounds good. Sorry, can't imagine with grits.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, most excellent with grits, especially our grits! Creamy, full of garlic, onions and olive oil...a meal within itself.

 

[Beekissed]

These peppers are VERY hot...never had them affect me like that before. Just washing them and cleaning them at the sink had me coughing and my eyes burning, which just doesn't happen with me and hot peppers. We have a long time love affair.

Anyhoo, I think I'll have to mix these batches with some sweet banana peppers to cut that extreme heat...no sense in having a spread you can't even taste the flavor of due to your tongue going up in flames.

These peppers are also all greenish yellow, which makes for a less appealing color in the jar. I love the orange color of the more mature, red peppers mixed with the yellow...just one of those preferences. I'll have to make sure the sweet peppers I add in are deep red if I can get them at that color.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks., I figured it was probably some type of hot pepper jam or such.

I'm growing cayenne peppers this year, going to dehydrate them (outside) and grind them up (outside) to a dry powder. The first time I cleaned them my hands were burning so now I use gloves when I work with them. I de-seed them and freeze them, waiting for enough ripe ones to dehydrate. I can see a health hazard when I dehydrate them, those fumes in the air if they are in an enclosure. And breathing that powder or letting it get in my eyes when I'm grinding them, nope not for me.

It's surprising how many different heat levels there are for different cayenne peppers, some are fairly mild and some are very hot.