Canning shelves for 2016

   I am finally finished canning for 2016.  The only thing that I may have to can is venison if Ryder or Jeremiah get another deer.  We froze the meat from the doe Ryder already got.  My mom needs some venison so the next deer will go to her but both boys can get a doe and a buck each.  We only harvest what we will eat so really we only need to get two more deer.  One for mom and one more for us. 

Here is the break down on the jars.

 ::The first shelf from the ceiling is our tomato soup.  We have already eaten a lot of jars.  Madi has eaten the bulk of those jars.  She took them to work.  :-)

::The second shelf is salsa on the left and carrots on the right.  I may end up canning more carrots because they are so convenient to have on hand.  One of Ryder's favorite sides is sweet carrots. I melt some butter and brown sugar together.  When it is blended I just add a jar of drained carrots and heat it thoroughly. Easy peasy.   

::On the third shelf starting from the left is grape juice then some applesauce from last year, then some spaghetti sauce that I also canned last year. Next in line is some spicy banana peppers and some peaches- again from last year.  Finishing up that shelf is jams.  I have elderberry, peach and blueberry.

::The fourth shelf is the green beans.

::The bottom shelf from the left is red beets, venison, honey and maple syrup.

   That's a wrap on this year.  Hopefully I haven't bored you with all the canning updates. Until next time, be blessed and enjoy this November! 

Maple Syrup

   Last Spring Jeremiah and his dad, Pappy J, built a small sugar camp.  Ryder has had an interest in making maple syrup for several years.  Several days ago, Ryder and two of his friends made syrup over an open campfire.  They ended up with about a quart of syrup. 
   All the talk of boiling got Jeremiah fired up to make some syrup as well.  He contacted a friend of his who has a local sugar camp.  He was able to get sap from him. Jeremiah and Ryder got the sugar camp set up and went to pick up the sap. The next morning, Jeremiah and Pappy J got to work boiling.  I took Ryder back after he was done with his classes at our local homeschool group. When it is complete, we will have about 4 gallons of syrup.
   Growing up I only ever had real maple syrup.  When Jeremiah and I married we switched to buying the store stuff because it was cheaper.  I thought it was so good...nothing better than the gooey, liquid that came out of a lady-shaped, plastic bottle! Jeremiah got hooked on the real thing several years ago and we haven't gone back to the imitation. It took a bit for me to transition back to natural sweetness but it has been good. I had some of the imitation syrup over Christmas and I could hardly believe I used to enjoy that flavor!
  How about you, which is your favorite? Real or imitation?
  

~ SunnyKaye