I made 5 1/2 pint jars of apricot jam. It looks real good and it jelled without any pectin, only apricots and sugar.

I made 7 more pints of Annie's salsa. I have a lot more to do as soon as I get more tomatoes ripe.

6 half pints and one pint of Peach jam.

ML

Well, I'm just getting started, but last week I made

13 Half pints of Apricot Pineapple Jam (free apricots from a sweet, elderly woman a few blocks away)

Today, I'm just finishing up

10 Half pints of Cinnamon Apple Jelly (the kids favorite from last year)

We're just starting to get some ripe cukes, so it shouldn't be too long before we can make a batch of pickles. I'm thinking of trying the Lemon Cucumber Pickle recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Anyone tried that one? We don't like sweet pickles, but I'd like to try something other than dills this year.

Bonnie

So far I have dried 1 bushel of beans this year and have to pick up another bushel to do. Dried 9-1/2 lbs. of mixed veggies, plus several lbs. each of corn, peas, carrots, okra, and green peppers. All stored in vacuum packed quart jars. I've also put lots of bags of green tomatoes in the freezer to try to save them from late blight. Got some jalapeno peppers to go in the freezer tonight. :)

Add:

10 pints Annie's Salsa
11 pints stewed tomatoes
10+ dozen ears of corn

and more jalapeno peppers than we'll ever eat.

I love canning season!

~ Tracy

Ok, since the apricot lemon marmalade, I've put up:

40 pounds of sweet cherries, pitted and frozen
23 quarts of strawberries, in the freezer
7 jars of low sugar strawberry jam
7 jars of Melly's Black Forest Jam

When I got home from work tonight, I did:

11 pints of Dilled Green Beans
6 quarts of Royal Burgundy Beans
5 quarts freshly picked blueberries in the freezer

Annie

50 Strawberry jam
5 Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
30 pints Sweet Dill pickles
9 pints Sweet Chunk Pickles
14 Dill Pickles
5-8oz. Apple Pie Jam
6-8oz. Blueberry Jam
4 pints Beef stew meat
4 pints Chicken Breast
4 pints English peas
4 pints Carrots
4 pints whole Green beans

At the Farmer's market today I'll be getting 3 pecks of pickles, cauliflower and hot peppers. One stand there sells bulk spices. I'll replenish my supply of Turmeric, Mustard seed, Dill seed and Mixed pickling spice.

I'm still working on my fair entries. Still need corn, B&B pickles, Dill relish and green beans.

Adding to my previous list:

11 half pints and 3 jelly jars Blueberry Lime jam
10 jelly jars Lemon Verbena jelly
7 quarts and 14 pints Green Beans
12 pts. Chunky Pasta Sauce
6 pts 1 1/2 pt. Annie's Salsa
2 pts Roasted Garlic Tomato soup
11 jelly jars Raspberry Chocolate Jam

Looking at my list I think I'll be making more Roasted
Garlic Tomato Soup today and maybe some Chunky Pasta Sauce since I have quite a few tomatoes.

Beets all finished. Cucumbers and tomatoes are about finished. Okra still doing well. Days are 85 (cool) to triple digits (over 100 and hot). So far, have canned the following:
Canned beets in water - a household favorite!
Pickled beets (about 4 varieties - just love beets!)
Pickled okra - wife hates it
Cajun Vegetables (okra, tomatoes, and onions)- just for me
Chicken Meat (raw pack with bone and hot pack boneless)- wife likes it this way over most other preparation methods
Chicken broth of course
Stewed tomatoes - for beans, soups, and stews
Annie's Salsa
Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup
Spicy Tomato Soup
Meatless Pasta Sauce
Apple Blueberry Pie Filling
Apple Sweet Cherry Pie Filling

A new eating standard for this summer has been baba Ganoush. This roasted eggplant dip with added garbanzo beans and fresh mint leaves goes so well with fresh baked flatbread (made with 1/2 whole wheat flour and wheat bran for additional fiber and nutrition).
Looks like everyone has been busy.
Jim in So. Calif.

Adding to my list:
6 pts crushed tomatoes
6 pts chunky basil pasta sauce
6 pts roasted tomato garlic soup
12-4oz jars Habanero Gold
8-4 oz jars blueberry lavender jam
3 pts strawberry balsamic orange jam

Plus, freezing corn and drying herbs is an ongoing project...

adding to my previous post...
6 qts tomato sauce
2 pts pizza sauce
6 qts crushed tomatoes
9 qts spicy tomato vegetable juice
16 pts annie's salsa
12 4 oz habanero gold
8 4oz apricot raspberry jam
8 4oz peach strawberry lemon verbena jam
8 4oz apricot jam
4 4oz asian plum sauce
2 pts apricot halves in vanilla syrup
6 qts peach slices in ginger syrup
5 liters walnut wine
and
apricot, peach and sour cherry liqueur

still need to get to the roasted tomato garlic soup and more plum sauce. sauerkraut should be ready to put up next week. the shelves are getting full!!

in the meantime, my own tomatoes should be ripe in about three weeks - lots of romas coming, so that will bring some frozen pasta sauce. freezing corn and beans almost every day. eating eggplant A LOT. DH is starting to beg for brocolli. ;)

cathy, in dc

ps. joannaw - could you please post the blueberry lavender jam recipe?

I'm still canning in bits and pieces, but I did manage to can 6 half pints of blueberry jam last night.

Annie

10 pints Blueberry syrup
10 pints Blueberries in a light syrup
7 quarts Blueberry pie filling
3 gallon bags of Blueberries in the freezer
5 quarts tomato juice
10 quarts whole tomatoes
7 quarts creole sauce from the BBB
12 quarts roasted garlic tomato basil soup
12 pints carrots
3 gallons blackberries in the freezer
5 pints blackberry juice in the freezer
6 pints apricots
6 pints yellow pear tomatoes from the BBB
6 pints peach butter
12 half pints of roasted red pepper spread

Wow--it didn't seem like I'd done that much until I started listing it all! We're going to eat well this winter.

Our local IGA ran a great deal on blueberries and since we spent a small fortune on them over the winter I really stocked up this time! And at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, some lady had a van full of gorgeous blackberries and was practically giving them away. I bought four gallons for $30.

I made a double batch of the roasted red pepper spread yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I feared but I absolutely do not like the sweetness. I was giving the recipe one last glance and realized I'd forgotten the teaspoon of sugar--I thought it tasted fine but wanted to follow the recipe since it was my first time making it. I could not believe how sweet one little teaspoon would make a double batch! I'm glad I tasted it before adding the second teaspoon. Any ideas how to cut the sweet taste after I open the jar?

I'm planning on making the strawberry balsamic jam listed above along with the chocolate raspberry jam. And who knows what else I may decide to make. Hubby wants me to do peaches but he has to help with the prep.

I have a question on the strawberry balsamic jam...I have a wonderful strawberry balsamic vinegar. Should I use regular balsamic or would the strawberry balsamic give it a more robust flavor? Thoughts from those who have made it?

Well, last time I posted, I had only done 13 half-pints of Apricot Pineapple Jam, and 10 (actually it turned out to be 11) half-pints of Cinnamon Apple Jelly.

Since then I have processed a whole case of peaches:

14 half-pints of Ginger Peach Jam
12 half-pints of Spiced Peach Jam

plus froze enough to make a couple of peach cobblers.

Today, I made my first batch of pickles for the year:

7 pints of Lemon Cucumber Pickles (I really hate that I have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to try these!)

Hope to have enough soon to make a couple more batches, maybe some Dill Sandwich Slices, and some Bread & Butter Pickles.

What I REALLY want to make is a batch of Annie's Salsa, but the tomatoes are simply refusing to get ripe!

Bonnie

I'm just getting started here. So far I have

4 pints B & B pickles (processed)
4 pints B & B pickles (refrigerated)ate one pint already!
4 pints frozen corn

Have 3 separate batches of pickles in the "works" right now:

Cinammon zucchini rings, should get at least 4 pints
Cinammon zucchini sticks, should get at least 4 pints
Lime pickles, hope to get 4 pints

Will start some Kosher pickles (thinly sliced) tomorrow

Tomatoes and green beans will be coming off in a week or so.

Haven't canned or preserved for 28 years, so I'm a tad slow getting into the groove.

Ms. Donnie

So far I have:

6 pints pickled asparagus
4 cups of locust blossom-orange-champagne jelly
6 pints zucchini relish
3 pints sour cherries
7 quarts of spicy dill pickles
3 quarts brined dill pickles--my first attempt at these, not thrilled with the results, I may dump them.
1 bottle of cherry eau-de-vie (macerated cherry wine)
2 quarts of brandied cherries
5-1/2 Cups plum jam
6-1/2 Cups blueberry jam
12+ cups of strawberry jam--already given some away so I lost count...
4 cups of currant-jostaberry jam

we also have frozen
a few cups of raspberries
a few bags of romano beans from the garden
a few bags of farm stand sweet corn
shredded zucchini
frozen wild caught fish--a few pounds?
frozen smoked bluefish
a dozen crab cakes from my husband's crabbing efforts!
and about 3 lb of onions in cool storage, with more drying in the garden.

today I'm working on some u-pick apricots we got yesterday--I think I'll do half as preserves and half in marsala wine, and turning some local tomatoes into Annie's Salsa you all rave about. I need to dry some herbs and make pesto soon too, before my own tomatoes ripen. I finally have one Roma that's showing some color, hooray!

Carrie

I'm still adding more beans, LOL. Last night was

7 quarts of Royal Burgundy Beans
4 quarts of the Pink Half Runners that Elery loves
11 pints of pickled three bean salad.

The three bean salad is my first time with that, a recipe from Michigan State University and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. I was astounded because it calls for oil and a less than 50/50 acid/water ratio. I suppose that because some of the acid is lemon juice, that makes a difference, but the oil surprised me, which is why I double checked MSU's recipe with NCFHFP.

Last night's canning wasn't finished until 2 1m, but I got a nice look at the Perseid Meteor Showers while waiting for the pressure canner, LOL. I didn't want to drag myself out of bed and to work this morning at 7 am, though!

Annie

YEA! Just finished 8 pints of Kosher dill sliced pickles. Used Mrs. Wages pickle mix, first time for that. Everything looks good and I heard 8 little "pops" as the jars sealed. What a sweet sound. lol

Ms. Donnie

My hubby is unemployed and there are so very few jobs in our area,so he planted a huge garden. So far we have canned:

100 quarts green beans
25 quarts dill pickles
55 pints bread and butter pickles
30 pints cucumber relish
25 pints pickled beets
28 quarts tomatoes
and 60 pints cream style corn , frozen.

We still have beans to dry and pickle, corn to use for making corn relish, more cucumbers just starting. For the fall garden we have butternut squash, several varieties of greens, broccoli, carrotts,cabbage and cauliflower. We also have potatoes to dig soon.
Its a lot of work but I am so thankful we have it for the coming winter.

5 pints of crab apple jelly
3 pints of carrot marmalade.

I'm such a slacker compared to you guys!

Oh, and I also froze 1/4 cup of raspberries. (I feel much better now)

2-1 Liter jars of Annie's Sweet Dill Refrigerator Pickles.

Annie, is this the three bean salad recipe?
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/bean_salad.html

Or could you provide a link to it?
Thanks,
Carrie

Three quarts of pepperoncini peppers using my higher powered vacuum pump. Peeled a bunch of garlic to make pickled garlic, dill flavor, plain, and spicy hot. One pint of each in my steam canner using full strength 5% vinegar and pickling salt.

25 quarts tomato quarters
17 quarts tomato juice
20 quarts green beans
4 quarts frozen black berries
tons of frozen shreaded zucchini
some chopped frozen zucchini
some chopped frozen yellow squash
50 ears frozen corn
15 quarts frozen corn off cob
15 quarts frozen broccoli
10 quarts frozen cabbage
10 bags frozen whole green peppers
5 bags frozen green pepper strips
5 quarts pickled bananna peppers
4 pints pickled green peppers
1/2 gallon refridgerator bread and butter pickles
1/2 gallon refridgerator pickled beets
4 quarts frozen strawberries
8 pints frozen rhubarb

didn't make any zucchini relish, ketchuo or chili sauce, had too much left over from last year.

have more beans to pick now and probably more tomatoes. more corn to freeze in about three weeks. need to pick more berries.

planting my fall garden this weekend.

can't wait until apple season.apple butter, apple pie filling, dried apples and going to try apple cider vinegar. then will come digging taters and turnips and onions.

i love to garden. i wish i didn;t work full time because then i could do more.

9 8 oz jars of plum Jam
6 8 oz jars of blue berry Jam
9 8 oz jars of peach Jam

1 quart of Pickled beets
2 quarts of Polish Dills
1 quart of pickled Dills from extra beet mixture
2 quarts of frozen blue berries for later
ml

To add to my last posting -

Almonds produced well - (Hall's 3-in-1 tho had fireblight), with standard tree disease-free. Dried and froze in individual packets. Macadamias - found by squirrels, who are chewing into nut and sucking out immature kernels. Grrr. Will try sticky wrap on trees. Drying some.

Tomato crop failed, except for cherry types - dried quite a few for salads, salsas and dressings.

Cucumber pickles fermented, were such a hit, they disappeared by visiting relatives, supplemented those with fermented zuke pickles and refrigerated. Brine crock going all summer long.

Now "doing" apple sauce from low-chill dwarf apple tree - great result this year. Planted 3 more trees - with high hopes.

A few grapes this year from Thompson and Sauvignon Blanc vines - fruit good - but vines need something, may be too moist and damp for them near the ocean. But enjoying them now. Drying some for raisins in dehydrator.

Peppers coming - made a few small jars of jalapenos in citric acid/salt blend and froze.

Dried bananas - tested citric acid/ascorbic acid versus lime juice for pre-treat. Lime juice won!

Next month, should bring local mountain fruit for canning in jars.

Most of my efforts are on-going, due to our local weather, but admit they don't sound very impressive. Just keep busy, busy, busy.

Love this forum.

Bejay

I'm new to canning so I'm really excited about trying it this year. My list is small right now but I ordered 2 canning books with recipes that I will be trying out soon.
12 pints Dilly Beans
Dried Oregano
Dried Dill
Dried Sage
Frozen Wild Black Berries
Frozen Wild Maine Blueberries

This was my first veggie garden (20' by 24')and unfortunately I didn't harvest much...11 pints of Romano green beans, 5 pints tomatoes (my tomatoes suffered badly from blight and other diseases), 2 pints dried Roma tomatoes, 6 quarts frozen crooked neck squash/zucchini mix, 4 quarts frozen eggplant and I'm still freezing peppers (the only veggie still producing). The corn was a bust as well as the cucumbers, although I did harvest enough cukes to make 4 pints of spicey bread and butter pickles. I also made 3 pints of squash pickles, 6 -1/2 pints of hot pepper jelly and 18 -1/2 pints of elderberry jelly. It's been 30 years since I made elderberry jelly and now I remember why....very time consuming, but SOOOO worth it! Elderberries grow wild and are very prolific in my neck of the woods. On a recent drive through the country, I found a patch of wild pawpaws that were still green...I've never tasted them so I'm looking forward to when they ripen...I'll probably harvest some and freeze.

Carrie, that's the one. I tasted it and the flavor is good but I'd like it more vinegar-y and I thought it was kind of oily, next time I'll just leave the oil out entirely.

Annie

4 pints of Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam
4 pints of Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam
3 pints of Raspberry Chocolate Jam

To-do: deal with many, many pounds of cucumbers in the beer fridge. Bread-and-butter and dill pickles.

I canned 7 qt of peach pie filling today. It looks beautiful all lined up on my counter. Someday I will figure out how to post photos.

So far I've put up a total of 31 pints of a variety of pickles this past week. Now, on to the green beans!! The bush beans are loaded. Have 6 quarts in the fridge now and will can them in pint jars tomorrow. Plus we'll be picking more tomorrow and most likely every day for the next couple of weeks. Tomatoes are just about ready and the vines are loaded!

Definitely going to get a freezer for next year!

Tested my new pressure canner today. Wish I hadn't gotten rid of my old one. Takes a few times to get used to new equipment.

Put up 6 apple pies and 5 peach pies. All frozen ready to bake. The way I do my apples now, is similar to what Alton Brown does with his. I peel and slice, and place in a big Corningware casserole with some Splenda. Its nuked only about 5 minutes to allow the apples to lose a little liquid. They get cooled and placed in the fridge. The next day are poured on into a colander and the juices are saved. The juice is quite lear too, as I also sprinkle a bit of ascorbic acid to reduce the browning. After the nuking and Splenda, they don't discolor. I fill each pie crust, and mix up some apple juice frozen concentrate with Clear Jel, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. The drained liquid gets boiled down a lot to a syrup, and has a bit of ground allspice added. Its poured into each filled pie crust and a top is put on. I cut a vent hole and freeze these. Then they get bagged in FS bags and then back to the freezer.Far better that way then to make pie fillings. Last years pie filling was very mushy after canning, more like a chunky apple sauce. The peach pies also had a couple of peeled Pluots added, as well as some minced crystalized ginger.

Harvested my genovese basil and taught my 12-year-old neice how to make pesto!

I had just enough to freeze 12 handy 1/3-cup portions in my muffin tin, which I popped out & wrapped individually last night & put back in the freezer. Well, I put 11 of them back in the freezer; one of them we ate on some pasta shells for my birthday supper. Yum!

Today the Zucchini Bread Journey of 2009 began. Came home the other day after a week away to three or four baseball-sized pattypans & eight-balls and one ginormous light green monster of a baseball bat (a variety called Magda, quite tasty when steamed if you manage to pick 'em smaller!). I grated the bat and got enough for six loaves. Just made the first two; didn't have any nuts so I put in chocolate chips --- very decadent!

Z

Finally got some photos taken and posted. Today was 10 quarts of Shirley's Veggie Juice (Batch 3). Blue lid is the fruit fly trap.

7 quarts of plain tomato juice and 8 pints of Vegetable Beef Soup.

Sweet Pickle Relish and Stewed Tomatoes. We did10 containers of potato leek soup for the freezer the same day. More of it next week after we did the last of the potatoes.

Last week was beans and potatoes and a couple more jars of peaches - that makes 18 pints total of peaches so far. Plus the last of the corn and another batch of peppers to the freezer. Fermenting dills in the background.

This is one of our 4 filled cabinets....so far. ;)

Dave

First potatoes finally! Will be a few more days before we can dig the whole row. If these first ones are any indication, we should have a great crop.

Second photo is everything that I've "put up" in the past week. Will have to move them to the basement soon. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying seeing them sit on my counter.

Beautiful photos, Msdonnie.

This week I've gotten 23 ducks into the freezer. We actually raised 27, but 4 of them are currently in the smoker. Elery says it's delicious, that a leg "fell off" and so he "had to eat it". Ummm...yeah.

I canned another 28 quarts of those pink half runner beans and this weekend I'm starting on stock because I have a pig that will be packaged by then. Not a single tomato yet, but the beets are ready whenever I am.

Annie

BEAUTIFUL jars Dave! I love the canning shelf!

Great idea about the pies, Ken. I am going to copy your recipe. It just sounds so much easier and BETTER! How long are the pies good in the freezer? Thanks, June Lynn

When I make them, I either spray a little PAM, or some soft margerine on the inside bottom crust. This helps to reduce soggy crust once backed. I used a Food Saver bag to package up each one seperately. They can stay in the freezer for a year or more. I also do this with leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, and at Christmas time when I have leftover roast beef. Both make excellent meat pies. For those, I like a bigger foil pan, the oval shaped Au Grautin size.

I just picked about 50 ears of corn. Blanched and kernals cut off the cobs. They are in the fridge right now, and will be bagged tomorrow. Need to get out and rake up the many apple 'falls', as well as pick the rest, along with more corn, and pepperoncini peppers. Busy!

I'm new at this but heres my list so far

6 quarts canned peaches
15 qt. bags frozen blueberrries(more to do)
15 qt.bags frozen strawberries
12 pints blueberry lime jam
6 pints cherry jam
32 qt. bags of green & wax beans
10 qt bags of asparagus
8 qt. bags of english peas
5 qt. bags of snap peas
7 pints & 5 qts of pickles (almost gone)

Picked another 70+ ears of corn. Blanched and cut from the cobs and are now in four full gallon freezer bags.

I just took 9 pints of beef broth from the canner and I'm on my way to the farm. i'm hoping for enough tomatoes to make salsa. If not, I'm going to can beets, I think.

I hear those jars popping in the kitchen, love that sound.

Great shelves, Dave, much lighter, brighter and newer than mine!

Annie

I don't know Annie, I think I'd rather have a set-up like yours and may work on that this winter. Our shelf sets are narrow - just kitchen cabinet width - and scattered all over the house so we keep forgetting what food is stored where so dates sometimes get overlooked. Would be great to have it all in one place!

But ours are made from old cabinets picked up at yard sales so at least they have doors we can close on them. Helps keep out the light and humidity.

Dave

PS: Today is 7 quarts of B&B pickles so far - now processing - and we are getting ready to do your salsa, again! Out to dinner tonight with all the kids and grandkids to celebrate our 47th anniversary. :)

Dave

Got nearly a bushel of pepperoncini to pick. Its very humid and quite hot outside, so I usually pick before 7am, or after 6 pm when temps and sun are lower. Picked all my apples and the almost bushel that fell to the ground must be raked up and removed from the area. I also need o pull down all my dead dill, probably 5 pounds of dill seeds out there and if they remain, I will be overrun with mammoth dill next year.

When I make B&B pickles, I slice in some onions and also a few bits of dried sweet red pepper bits for color. I also add a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of whole celery, and mustard seeds. I like to use mostly cider vinegar for the B&B.

Dave, my shelves are in my basement, it stays about 50F there and there are no windows, so it's dark and no one goes down there except me, LOL.

I added 6 pints of the Southwestern corn relish that Readinglady posted and tonight it's sweet pickles, chicken stock and salsa! Finally!

Annie

I have put up:

8 Pints of Linda Lou's Famous Sweet Chunks
2 Pints of Sweet Pickle Relish
8 Green Bell Peppers frozen
4 quarts Zucchini & Summer squash frozen

Next I think is Linda Lou's Zucchini Relish

I know it is not much, but this is my first year with a garden and first year of canning. I started thinking of canning because I got overloaded with cucumbers and didn't want to waste them. After seeing all that everyone puts up, I plan to stick with it. I would like to can a little more each year.

Thanks to the help of numerous of people here, I got the confidence, along with the interest to start canning.

Paul

So far canned:

21 pints lemon juice dill pickles
25 quarts mustard greens
14 qts green beans
35 qts and 120 pts nectarines
21 pts blueberries in juice

Frozen:
33 pts blueberries
23 qts mustard greens
13 qts mixed wild greens
15 qts nectarines
16 qts summer squash

That's all I can remember right now. We hardly buy any fruits and vegetables from the store. Later we hope to can 200+ qts of applesauce. Still hope to freeze corn, more squash, and can tomatoes, more green beans, okra, shelled beans, celery, and red peppers. We dehydrate a lot too.

VG

I can now add 7 pints of busylizzy's 10 day pickles with cinnamon and cloves. I still have several jars of last year's sweet pickle chunks, and although I love them, I have enough to last until next summer, so I tried Liz' recipe. They are very good and very sweet and very spicy, like candied cucumbers, how can that be bad?

I finally got 13 pints of "sissy" salsa canned, I like it mild. Elery will be home tonight so we'll probably get in a double batch of the flaming hot stuff for him in the next couple of days.

The chicken stock is still in the fridge, it wasn't as reduced as I like it when I got home so it got four more hours in the roaster, then hit the fridge about 11 pm. I'll skim the fat tonight and pressure can it.

Since I had some extra time, LOL, I made two sugar free rhubarb pies, does that count? My BIL is diabetic and it's his birthday, and he loves rhubarb pie. I find that the rhubarb really overwhelms the artificial sweetener flavor and is almost unnoticeable, so that's good. I'm a little less certain about the white wheat flour that I made the crust from, but I'm trying to make it as healthy for him as I can.

So after the flaming hot salsa is done, what's next? Either plain canned tomatoes or beets. One batch of pickled and the rest just plain I guess. Unless anyone has a good unique recipe for canned beets?

Annie

Finally picked and froze all the corn. Picked 3 gallons of pepperoncini and plan to make some very sour pickles. Apples are also peeled and sliced and are macerating in Splenda. I sprinkle ascorbic acid on the slices and nuke the big batchs or apple slices for about 6 minutes. This just sliughtly warms teh batch and once cool its placed in the fridge overnight, where a LOT of juice will leech out. The next day they get placed in a big calender and drain a bit more. The juices are boiled down to a very thick syrup. I add frozen apple juice concentrate and the spices and Clear Jel. This gets poured over and mixed with the apple slices whch are still quite crisp and firm. I make a huge batch of pie doigh and fill many pies for the freezer. This secone batch of apples will produce about four 9 inch pies and about 6 small single serving pies. Lots of work. Next comes soaking the cukes in salt brine and calcium chloride overnight, and making a huge batch of my vacuum process pickled pepperoncini. I think the sour pickles will also be done by vacuum, as they too are full strength vinegar brine, with a bit of the 20% vinegar added to boose the acidity even more.