Refreshments for canning class

hwillm1977

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murphysranch said:
All I can say is: We are all so PROUD of you Ldychef!!!!!
So proud! :thumbsup

(and a little teeny bit jealous of that gorgeous pantry... lol)

I wish there were canning classes somewhere near me... I'd be there in a heartbeat.
 

Ldychef2k

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You guys are so wonderful. I would never have had the courage to attempt many of the things I have the past 11 months if it hadn't been for you all.

Last night I tried to sleep but I just couldn't. Too many thoughts. So, I got up and re-organized the pantry. Moved some of the storage boxes from the shelving on one wall, stowed them under DGD10's bed and moved the fruits, jams and pickles over there. This freed up enough space that I could put the jars up that had been stored under a table.

About 1:30 in the morning today I was making a list of labels to make and attach to the shelving next to whatever foods are there. That's a project for tonight. I need 113 labels! Not sure I have that many. May need to go for a plan B and make small lists of the entire shelf instead of under each recipe section. I am torn, because I want the attendees at the class to see the variety of things you can successfully can, but it's a HUGE job !

Anyway, I don't want you to think I am fishing for compliments, but I do want to post pictures in case anyone needs ideas or HAS ideas for me.

After the garden is settled, I am going to be finishing the shelving on the short wall and underneath the window where you see the work table now. May extend the white wall mounted shelves down to the floor in time. Anyway, here we go:

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This wall has meat, soups, stews of all kinds. A whole lot of meatloaves, canned ham, pulled pork, deep pit beef, chicken, turkey, beans, chili, sausages, and on and on. I have too many jars of meats and main dishes, and had to send a few to this shelf:

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This wall is basically for veggies. It also has BBQ sauce and enchilada sauce, and on the floor are juices, strawberry lemonade. The white jars are potatoes, and top left is butter, margarine, cheese and nacho sauce. There are about 30 jars that belong on the meat shelf. I may end up putting them on the floor under the meat shelf, because they don't belong on this shelf !!! OCD....

Because I added a whole new wall for storage (coming up next), I now have room for more veggies from the garden, which I am anticipating greatly !

That spot on the carpet is gone now....

To the right are 10 cases of jars I was given two weeks ago. I was down to a handful of jelly jars, so this was a serious blessing. Half are okay for pressure canning, and I found a very rare jar in the mix, which may fetch $25 to $50 !!!

The shelves here hold fruits, fruit sauces, jams, pickles, catsups and chutneys. Below are boxes filled with dehydrated, vacuum sealed foods. On the bookcase are dry canned jars of dehydrated foods, pasta, rice, and any other thing I might use in daily food preparation. As you can see, I have decorated in a patriotic theme ! Actually, those are dollar store finds that I used for the bake sale. We were quite visible.

The bottom shelf of the bookcase holds that handful of jelly jars!

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And finally my work space. More long term storage under the work table, with my Excalibur on the right and on the left a small library, as well as my Foodsaver and some supplies. I keep my big pots and pressure canner in here, as well. This will be shelving after the summer, as I need a lot more veggies in order to have a balanced supply.

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You don't have to comment at all. You have all been so amazing. I just had a long night doing this and want to cement it in time !!!
 

rty007

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I am a nag, and do not really show emotions a lot, but DAMN lady... that is one sweet pantry. The shelves are amazing, yet the produce is even more beautiful. Do you plan on kicking your work desk out and putting some shelves in the middle of the room? :) couse you seem to be going low on shelf space. or do you have it calculated for some amount of food and just refill?
 

Ldychef2k

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Thank you ! By the end of the summer, the work table ought to be in the middle of the room and shelving will be on all four walls.
 

Ldychef2k

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Well, I have my menu, and all but one item is ready to go. I am combining canned foods with a tease of things to come, and here is what I came up with.

Beverage: Using the strawberry lemonade concentrate I canned a couple of weeks ago, and am also making raspberry lemon tea with the lemon slices I dehydrated last year.

Applesauce muffins, made with my canned applesauce.

I made some panir cheese and seasoned it with herbs, sun dried tomatoes, and home canned roasted sweet peppers.

I made yogurt cheese, divided it in three bowls and added a different item to each: Jalapeno jam, Peach jam, and mango chutney.

I made some baguettes and sliced them thin, will oven toast them in the morning.

I will be discussing and demonstrating BWB canning, and will set up a display of a representative sampling of what you can put up in both BWB and PC. The "lecture" will include all the good info, and I have written an outline and an information sheet to pass out.

I have prepped another giant batch of zucchini pickles and will be actually canning them tomorrow for the class to take home.

The promotional blog I wrote in our newspaper has brought in many attendees. I have room for 10 to sit, but have 17 registered. Not sure how many will show up, because I made the mistake of not asking for pre payment. I will be tougher next time.

The blog also drew the attention of the Lifestyle editor. She and a photographer will be here next week to do a story. The photographer doesn't work on Saturday or they would be here tomorrow.

I have also written up a class description for for all four classes I want to ultimately offer, and both the attendees and the press will get a copy.

I have written the "lecture" (hate how that sounds...maybe presentation is better. Yes, it is. I have written the presentation and practiced it. I think the class will go about two hours, if I am doing my job.

Hope it goes well. Hope somebody shows up !! Hope I can sleep tonight.
 

buckeye lady

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"BREAK A LEG":)
GOOD LUCK TODAY. We'll be awaiting a report on how it went.
Strawberrt Lemonade concentrate sounds wonderful, we must have your recipe-Please.:drool
 

kcsunshine

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I'm so excited for you. Sounds like you have it all together. Here's hoping everyone shows and sign up for the next one also. :hugs
 

murphysranch

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Woo Hoo! What an exciting day it is for you! We'll be waiting on pins and needles for the full report, including any good gossip, who liked what, what worked, what needs changing for the next class, and so on and so on....:caf
 
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