Saving Summer

Ping…..Ping….

Ah, that glorious sound!  If you’ve ever canned anything you know what I’m talking about.  That sound that tells you all is right in the world, that all of your hard work really did just pay off. 

I just finished up stringing, breaking and canning a bushel of green beans this week.  Halfrunners to be exact.  In the south green beans ain’t just green beans.  They are greasy cutshorts, halfrunners, blue lakes, everyone has their favorite.

Stringing and breaking beans was an adventure this year, having Little Miss on the go and into everything.  Every time I looked up she had a bean or a string in her mouth or she had her foot in the bowl of fresh broke beans!  For some reason she likes to put her feet in everything now a days.  The Boy of course wanted to help, for about 5 minutes, then he was done!  That’s a four year old for you.

Once we got them all strung and broke I blew the dust off of a prized possession.  A pressure canner that has been in Hubby’s family for a long while.  I got a while back and after only a little research found a replacement gasket and weight (it’s a dial gauge canner) on Amazon, of course.  I then went to work preparing the beans, the jars, the canner for the job ahead. 

Canning can be a tedious job, a long job but I love it.  One reason is the sense of accomplishment when looking at the rows of jars knowing I canned it myself.  I love looking in my pantry, at the glass jars and their colorful contents and remember the day (days) of prep and canning.  Knowing I did it to feed my family.  Another reason, the one most dear to me, is that I never feel as close to my Mamaw Pansy as I do when I can.  I really can’t really explain it, we never canned anything together (and according to my daddy she typically froze her green beans instead of canning them) but she had a can room filled with jars my whole childhood.  My sweet Mamaw went to be with Jesus back when I was about 13 but her memory still is alive, laughing and cooking in the kitchen.

Two dozen quarts of halfrunners later and I am done, for now.  But I’m not retiring the pressure canner just yet.  I have a list of things I want to can this year, green beans just being the first, hopefully I can get everything put up that I want to before the season is over.  Harvest time is starting and for a country girl nothing is better than a meal of vegetables from the garden (whether it’s hers or someone elses) no matter what time of the year it is.  I can because I like to preserve that taste for later!

I am ready to enjoy the harvest and I hope you guys are as well.  And if you have extras you need to get rid of….let me know!  J

Dinner of left over beans, squash casserole, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes!  Yum!