I've been bitten...

by the canning bug!!!

My very nice neighbor (Camille) showed Kim (neighbor) and I some of the basics of canning. It's so easy that I can't believe that I haven't done it before. I remember helping my Mom can all kinds of things as a kid, but I didn't really pay attention. I'm sure I was thinking something like, "Canning? Who's going to be canning in 10 or 15 years?"

So, finding bottles was the hardest task. It seems like EVERYONE has decided to do some canning this year. We looked everywhere and couldn't find any. Luckily, my sister (Shawna) was coming down for a visit and my Mom had a few (2 1/2 dozen) in her basement. She also brought down the pressure cooker and we made "Soup Starter". I cannot use a pressure cooker on my range so we used our grill and did it in the garage. That's called Redneck Canning! :)

My sisters and my Mom tell me how great this "Soup Starter" is. I'm hoping so because I now have 11 bottles of it! There's all kinds of ways to use this - some throw potatoes in it, others use noodles, hambuger, chicken, etc. If you feel like giving it a try, here's the recipe:

Vegetable Soup

4 1/2 qt tomatoes, diced

3 qt carrotts, sliced (I shredded mine)

6 onions, chopped

3 red peppers, chopped

3 green peppers, chopped

1 large cabbage, chopped (I shredded mine so kids couldn't tell it was green)

1 Tbsp pepper

1/2 cup salt

4 qt water

I also added a little pearled barley to mine.

Combine all ingredients and boil 1 hour or until tender. Put in quart jars and seal using pressure cooker. Pressure 15 and cook 15 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.