Can-tastic

My friend J invited me to come turn a box of windfall apples into organic baby-feedable applesauce. I think she created a monster. It started with a desire to preserve the applesauce without using up my whole freezer. I borrowed her canner and bought some jars. I spent hours learning all the internet could teach me. Five days have passed. I have now canned 5.5 litres of applesauce, 7.5 litres of sliced peaches, 1.5 litres of orange-cranberry-apricot jam, and 2.5 litres of blackberry-blueberry jam. I only burned myself once, and feeling seems to be returning to the area.

Whew.

Canning is fun! I admit that peeling and slicing 18 pounds of peaches didn't put me in the best of moods, but I did discover the simple pleasure of slipping the skin off of one perfectly blanched peach. Making jam is definitely one of my new favourite skills - I felt so grown up! The blueberry-blackberry jam looked so cool in the pot, and the colour is amazing. I want to dye my hair to match, but I wont, because after spending several hours in a hot steamy kitchen canning the stuff my face was verging on exactly this colour of magenta. I think with matching hair I'd look like an oompa loompa.

I found some free labels here, and I think I have now reached canning nirvana. They looks so cute with their little paper tops!

My only problem is that I can't bring myself to put all this fruity goodness away. It's such a lovely tangible proof of a weekend of hard work. That, and I have no clue where I'm going to store it all.