Canning without the Canning!

Key Lime Pie in a Jar with a special message for my husband!

When I think of canning, I think of my Granny Alice.  Granny used to make jars and jars of pickles and the best canned peaches I have ever head.  You know how when you are little and things seem so gigantic but then you get older and realize they weren’t in fact that big-that’s how I remember those peach and pickle jars!

About two years ago my mom started teaching me how to can.  Canning is not like cooking where you can just throw things together and hope it turns out.  According to my mom, it requires careful preparation, planning, time, patience and following directions.  My mom is really patient with me though as I struggle with some of the previously mentioned requirements.  Last summer she questioned my desire to add lavender buds to the strawberry jam we made but later confirmed it was delicious and was even more surprised when I started adding wine.  So there is some room for innovation when it comes to canning:)

I thought it would be fun to come up with some ideas that allow you to get the canning feeling without the canning, especially for those that don’t have the equipment, know-how or a wonderful mom to teach you how to can.  Normally canning requires sterilization, sweaty all-day cooking sessions, huge clean up and wine (for both the jars and for you-well it does for me and my mom anyway).  These ideas are easy, require minimal preparation, make wonderful gifts and allow you do be a part of the canning movement without actual canning!

You can pick up any of these great canning jars at Frattallone’s Ace Hardware at 1676 Grand Avenue!

Click here to watch the April 13, 2012 Twin Cities Live segment when I made these recipes.

No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar
 
No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar
Ingredients:
9 Graham Crackers (finely crushed)
¼ cup Sugar
4 TB Butter (melted)
1 (8 ounce package) Cream Cheese)
½ cup Key Lime Juice
14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 Key Limes
Directions:
Combine crushed graham crackers, sugar and melted butter.  Press ¼ cup of crust mixture into 10 (4 ounce) jars.  Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl or mixer, combine cream cheese, key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and zest from key limes and blend until creamy.
Scoop ¼ cup of key lime mixture into jars over crust.  Slice key limes into thin slices and place on top of mixture.  Secure lids and refrigerate until chilled.
Makes 10 (4 ounce) Pies
Homemade Bath Salts (L to R-Cinnamon, Vanilla Bean and Rose Water & Lavender

 

Homemade Bath Salts
Base Ingredients:
1 cup Epsom Salt
1 cup Baking Soda
Directions:
In a bowl, combine epsom salt and baking soda.
Varieties:
Rose Water & Lavender
Add to base mixture-3 caps of Rose Water, 20 drops of lavender essential oil and 1 TB lavender buds.  Mix thoroughly.  Garnish with rose petals.
Vanilla Bean
Add to base mixture-2 TB vanilla bean paste.  Mix thoroughly.  Garnish with vanilla bean pod.
Cinnamon
Add to base mixture-20 drops of cinnamon and 2 TB cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Add mixture to desired jar size.  Makes 2 cups of bath salts.
Other fun ideas:

Dry Soup Mixture

 

Dry Soup Mixture: Combine a variety of beans, pasta, dry bouillon and spices. I used a bean variety bag mix, tri-colored pasta, chicken bouillon cubes and the spice packet included in the beans.
For other recipe ideas do an Internet search of “dry soup mix recipes.”
Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing

Salad Dressing: Create your own favorite homemade dressing. I made a Poppy Seed dressing and used the following recipe from the Vegan Feast Kitchen: http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/05/lowfat-poppyseed-dressing-and-sneak.html

Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt: Create your own yogurt with just milk and a little bit of Greek yogurt!  For recipe ideas do an Internet search of “homemade yogurt.”

Herbal Rub
BBQ Rub

Seasoning: Clean out all of those spices from your cabinet that you never use and make your own spice blends!  I made a BBQ spice blend of brown sugar, salt and cajun seasoning and an Herb mix of thyme, celery salt, salt, dried minced garlic and turmeric.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *