The Dill Pickle Chronicle.

Our family foray into canning this summer was overall, a huge success. With a friend, G, I successfully put up a fair amount of food for our family of 5. The amount is huge for a first time canner, but not nearly enough to get us through until next year. Turns out some of the recipes for homecanning are so much better than what we can get store bought that my kids don't want to eat store bought foods any more.

Salsa--the salsa was a GIANT success. The kids all love it and it's nearly gone. I will at least make double next year. Brendan can eat a pint in one sitting. Well, he can eat 2 pints in one sitting, but I put a stop to that.

Spaghetti Sauce-this sauce just can't be beat. I got the tomatoes, loads of tomatoes, for free from a friend, H. It was a LOT of work, but very much worth it. 12 qts total and next year will plan on doubling that.

Dill Pickles-after multiple refrigerator pickle failures, we landed on a recipe that is FABULOUS.  It was a gamble, because I put up 25lbs of dill pickles and then had to wait for 8 loooong weeks to try them out. Wow--they are amazing! The 19 qts I put up are not nearly enough and as we are big pickle fans here, I think I will put up 75 lbs of dill pickles. At $5/25lbs pickles are very economical to can.
Pears-the kids LOVE the pears. They are just the right amount of sweetness and firmness and  I'm pretty sure they will be sad when they are gone. I had 9 qts total and think next year I'll shoot for 30 qts. I got my pears from someone local on Craigslist and I paid $7 for the amount that turned into 9 qts.

Applesauce--well, waiting on apples and a day to process them.

Next year's canning goal:  Can more!