Waiting on the Canner

Waiting on the canner to heat back up for tonight's last load to be canned.  Before next years canning season, I will get a new stove...I say that every year, but I will do it.  This one is the one my husband had in the house when we married.  The burners are sized so that I can only run one canner at a time, and I can only do a 16 quart canner.  It won't heat up my 23 or my 30 gallon ones--the burners are just too small, and according to the book with the stove, if the hot canner hangs over too far, it can crack the glass top.  I have my moms old stove in the basement, but we still have not gotten an outlet to it.  That is also on my list to do before next years canning season--then, I won't be heating up the entire ground floor and taking over the main kitchen.

My ideal stove is an old gas 5 burner stove--1950's style.  I used to have one and loved it.  I could run 2 canners at the same time and still cook a meal.  I have found a couple on craigslist, but someone always beats me to them.  So, the search continues.

As of tonight, I now have canned tomatoes, corn, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, peaches, peach pie filling, apple pie filling, applesauce, apple jelly, and apple pancake syrup.  This weekend daughter #2 is bringing me a bunch of  green beans from an Amish market.  Those will also be canned.

The fall garden still looks good, so I also will be adding pumpkin pie filling, horticulture beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and lima beans.

Of course there is also the food I dehydrated as well--onions, potatoes, mint, spiced apple rings and more.

When all done, I will head to Aldi and purchase by the case where we are lacking.  The pantry will be all stocked for the next year, except for what we have to get or bake weekly, such as bread, milk, lettuce, eggs and such.

I will also be canning some soups and chilis-but not until it is cooler out.

I must admit, it will be nice to have the kitchen free of apples and peaches now--they were starting to draw in fruit flies, and I am getting tired of always wiping down the sticky it causes.

Tomorrow I also have to take everything canned so far down to the basement pantry.  I have been stacking the jars back into boxes and have piles of canned food on my table, kitchen bench and floor.  Then I can start all over this weekend with the beans.