If tomatoes give off a lot of juice and you want a thicker salsa, dissolve 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch in a small amount of water. Add cornstarch slurry to the salsa in the last 15–20 minutes of cooking. Salsa should thicken slightly.

Prepare canner, jars, and lids according to manufacturer’s instructions. Carefully ladle hot salsa into the heated jars, using a funnel and leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Center lids on jars. Apply and tighten bands.

Process in boiling water canner for 35 minutes, adjusting for altitude. (Increase processing time: 5 minutes for 1,001 to 3,00 ft; 10 minutes for 3,001 to 6,000 ft; 15 minutes for 6,001 to 8,000 ft; 20 minutes for 8,001 to 10,000 ft.)

Prepare 9 quart jars for canning. Tightly pack rinsed cucumbers into clean jars. Add fresh jalapeño to each jar, with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 grape leaves and 1 to 2 large sprigs of dill per jar.

Bring water, vinegar, and salt to a boil. Pour over cucumbers, filling to within ¼ inch of the jar top. Run a butter knife down between the cucumbers and jar to remove any air bubbles and to make sure the liquid is covering everything completely.

Wipe off rims of filled jars with a clean damp kitchen towel, then firmly screw on lids with screw bands.

Place sealed jars in canner or pot and add enough hot water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, covered. Boil, covered for 10 minutes, then transfer jars with jar tongs to a towel-lined surface to cool. Jars will seal—you will hear pings, which indicate that the jars are sealed. You will notice that the lid is concave.

After jars have cooled for 24 hours, press center of each lid to check if it’s concave. If it goes back and forth, then the lid did not seal and the contents need to be refrigerated and eaten within a week.

Let dill pickles stand in jars at least 4 weeks before eating.

Mix pickling salt with the 4 cups water and pour over the cucumbers. Add additional water to cover the cucumbers if needed.

To keep the cucumbers submerged, add water to a freezer bag and place on top of the cucumbers. Leave in a cool dry place or in the fridge for at least 12 hours or overnight.

On preserving day, fill canner pot with water and bring to boil. In a seperate bowl, add hot water. Take off the lids of 6 jars and add to the water.

Once the water in the canner starts boiling, place the jars in the canner. Cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F or 82°C). Keep them hot until you use them.

Drain and cut cucumbers into spears or slices. Peel and slice onions. Peel garlic.

Combine lemon juice, water, sugar and pickling salt in a pot and bring it to a boil.

Take the jars out of the canner. Add cucumbers, onions, a garlic clove and either a head of fresh dill or 2 teaspoon of pickling mix in each jar.

Add the pickling liquid to the jars, up to 1 cm of the rim. Screw on the lids. Place the jars back in the canner and make sure at least 1 inch of water is covering the jars. Cover with lid. Bring to boil and continue to boil for 10 minutes.

After the processing time, remove the pot lid and let stand for 5 minutes. Take the jars out and rest them on a protected worksurface and leave undisturbed for 24 hours.

Once all fruit are prepared, add to a large wide mouthed heavy pot or jam making pot, along with the water. Add the whole and ground spices and the vanilla bean.

Heat the fruit, spices and water on medium heat until they reach a simmer. Simmer on low heat for up to an hour or until all the fruit pieces have softened and just begun to disintegrate at the edges.

While the fruit is simmering, sterilize jars by placing the just washed and rinsed jars on a cookie sheet in a 110ºC (230ºF) oven for 15 minutes and boil the lids for 5 minutes in boiling water. (For more tips on this, see the full blog post linked to this recipe.)

Add juice of 2 lemons and zest of 1 lemon. Add sugar and stir to dissolve.

Turn heat up to achieve a rolling boil. Continue the rolling boil for up to 30 minutes or until setting point is reached. Test for setting point when jam begins to thicken and become glossy and bubbling slows a little—a soft set is preferable, so when you notice these signs, turn off heat and test by dropping a small spoon of jam onto a saucer that you have cooled in the freezer. Allow to cool, run your finger through the jam and if it remains parted it is set. (For more tips on checking setting point, see full post linked to this recipe along with troubleshooting tips for what to do with runny or overcooked jam.)

Decant the jam into sterile jars with a ladle, taking care as the jam will be hot. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean tea towel and apply the sterile lids. Allow to sit on a chopping block on the bench to cool down. Check if the jars are sealed by seeing if the buttons in the middle of the lids are depressed.

Can be stored in a cool dark place for up to 2 years, refrigerate and use within a couple of months after opening. Delicious for breakfast on toast or a croissant or in a quince apple jam gin sour cocktail.

After 20 minutes, while cherries are still at a boil, add lemon juice and zest. Stir and add sugar. Continue stirring frequently. Add vanilla and pepper, stir, and simmer jam for about 50 minutes.

The jam is ready when you have a fairly thick gel-like consistency. Take the plate out of the freezer and spread a teaspoonful of jam on to check the thickness of the jam.

Press apple mixture through a colander, food mill, or strainer. Add milled apples back into a large pot on medium heat and add sugar and spices, stirring frequently.

To test for doneness, remove a spoonful and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon. Another way to determine when the butter is cooked adequately is to spoon a small quantity onto a plate. When a rim of liquid does not separate around the edge of the butter, then it is ready.

Fill hot butter into sterile half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Quart jars need not be pre-sterilized but should be clean and kept hot until filling. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.

Recommended process time for apple butter in a boiling-water canner:

Style of pack: hot
Jar size:
Half-pints or pints at 0 to 1,000 foot altitude: 5 minutes
Half-pints or pints at 1,001 to 6,000 foot altitude: 10 minutes
Half-pints or pints above 6,000 foot altitude: 15 minutes
Quarts at 0 to 1,000 foot altitude: 10 minutes
Quarts at 1,001 to 6,000 foot altitude: 15 minutes
Quarts above 6,000 foot altitude: 20 minutes

Make the calcium water following the instructions in the box of Pomona Pectin. Set aside (all needed ingredients are listed in the box, typically only calling for adding water).

Bring water to boil and brew tea. Allow to steep until water cools. Discard tea bags. You want the tea to be very strong to get a full flavor jam.

Bring tea back to boiling on the stove or in the microwave, and put in blender. Add pectin, vent lid, and blend 1 to 2 minutes until powder is dissolved. Add liquid sweeteners (and flavor extracts, if desired), stir.

Add 2 teaspoons calcium water, stir well. The mixture should begin to gel. If not, add 1 teaspoon more of calcium water. It will gel completely when cooled and chilled.

Fill containers to 1/2 inch from top. Allow to cool, put on tight sealing lids. Refrigerate or freeze immediately.

Store in refrigerator for several weeks, or in freezer for up to one year. Thaw on counter.

Yields 2 cups jam or 16 servings of 2 tablespoons each.

Notes:
1. The box of Pomona’s Universal Pectin includes the calcium powder and simple instructions for making calcium water. This is necessary to create a gel. The extra calcium water may be refrigerated or frozen for later use. I’ve kept it in my refrigerator for nearly a year without it going bad.
2. If you can’t find Pomona’s Universal Pectin in a local grocery, it is available on Amazon.

Nutrition estimates are calculated per serving with My Fitness Pal’s online recipe analyzer. If you make any changes to the ingredients, your results may differ. The recipe is stored there and available to MFP users for logging in their food diaries. I do not include sugar alcohols or liquid sucralose in my nutrition counts, as they are not absorbed by the body and rate zero on the glycemic index.

Calories 1, Total Fat 0 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Sodium 11 mg, Potassium 6 mg, Total Carbohydrate 0 g, Dietary Fiber 0 g, Sugars 0 g, Protein 0 g.

© October 21, 2017 Roxana Lopez for Aunt Rocky’s

For more low lchf/keto recipes and cooking tips, look for Aunt Rocky’s Low Carb Recipes & Tips Group on Facebook, or follow me on Pinterest at auntrocky2.

I don’t get any commission or kickback for products I use or mention in my recipes. Brand names are included only to assure a similar outcome to mine, and more accurately assess nutritional estimates, which are based on exact ingredients I used.

Soak dry beans in a bucket of cold water overnight or at least 6 hours.

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown ground beef and add minced garlic, chili powder, kosher salt, cumin, and oregano. Divide beef, beans, tomatoes, veggies, and chicken broth equally into the jars. Add 1/2 teaspoon pickling salt to each quart. If the jars are not full enough, add boiling water. Seal with hot, sterilized lids and rings, not too tight.

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I love homemade canned soup in my pantry, ready for giving away.

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