Peach Canning - One Out of Four Ain't Bad

Last summer I canned about eight Freestone peaches from our local farmers market to have a little taste of summer through the winter. It went pretty well so I decided to try it again in the name of trying to make my own stuff. Everything went fine up until the very end of the process, at which point three of the four lids popped which means they were not properly set, AND I burned myself. Yes, I splashed boiling water onto my stomach, and it seeped through my shirt and looks like stretch marks. Now my dog associates the kitchen as a place where bad things happen, like burning and pain and smoke detector noises.

Don't do what I do. Good rule for life.

Let's review, shall we?

Step 1: Wash yer peaches. Boil yer jars (10 mn), boil yer lids (5 mn).

Step 2: Boil peaches for 45 seconds, then plunge into ice water. This makes them easier to peel

Step 3: Peel and section. Boil in a syrup of 6 c water and 2 c sugar for 5 minutes.

Step 4: Pour into jars. Leave 1/2 inch at the top and fill that 1/2 inch with syrup. Run spatula between fruit and jars to minimize air bubbles. I squirted some lemon juice on top to preserve color. Screw the lids on.

Step 5: NB: This is where I screwed the frick up and ruined everything, somehow! Put the tightened jars in boiling water for 20-30 minutes.

Now I have four beautiful jars of peaches, only one of which is probably safe to store for the next six months or so. The remainder I should probably refrigerate and eat within--I don't know, a month? Anyway, I'm not sure where I went wrong. The peaches will certainly last longer than they would have if I had just left them in my fridge, but I wonder, is it worth the gallons of water and all the gas and electricity I used? We'll see, I guess.

*Update: Mike3550 insists that only one lid is popped, so maybe I'm overreacting, but still!

**Update 2: Mike3550 was right. All the peaches are fine. Still, I stand by my advice - don't do what I do.

Recipe du Jour

In my ongoing quest to find more fulfillment, I have decided to try and cook more at home and avoid eating out so much. This is motivated by two things. Eating out is both expensive and very unhealthy in the long run, particularly the kind of eating out that I do which consists of a rotation of Chinese food, pizza and going out to a Mexican restaurant. Alright, not all of those are expensive, but they are bad for my health. The second, loftier, reason is that I enjoy cooking and want to learn how to do it better and E. enjoys the food I make (usually, especially if it doesn't contain red onions).

Tonight, I made a very "interesting" dish. When I was in architecture school as an undergrad, our professors would come around and look at our work. Often, the first words out of their mouth when they would approach my desk would be something like, "This is...um...interesting." Basically, it meant that it was somehow unusual and somehow less than successful. I felt that way about what I made tonight. The dish, from The Joy of Cooking, was "Baked Acorn Squash with Pear and Apple" (p. 425).

Basically, I think that I would have liked it if it weren't squash...which, I realize, I should have recognized before I made it. I was trying it because we are having some vegetarian friends over for dinner this weekend and we wanted to attempt it before making it for them. Although I have never really liked squash, I have recently acquired an appreciation for it -- and it was in season. Let's say that taste was not acquired for this squash. I'm not sure if it is because I messed it up or I just really don't like squash. I'm hoping its the former, especially since E. really liked it. The filling was great, though and the idea of serving a dish in what looks like a pumpkin is kind of cool.

Anyway, for those of you who like squash and might want to try it, here you go:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a baking pan. Place cut side sown in the baking pan
  2 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
Add ¼ inch hot water to the pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, mix in a medium bowl:
  2 large apples, peeled, cored, and diced
  1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and diced
  ¼ cup dried raisins
  2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
  Grated zest of 1 small orange
  ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Heat in a large skillet over medium heat until melted:
  2 tablespoons butter
Add the apple mixture and cook until the fruit is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in:
  ¼ cup apple cider or orange juice
Simmer, stirring often, until the fruit is tender, about 8 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven: pour off the water from the pan and turn the squash cut side up. Fill the squash with the apple mixture. Bake until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes more.

Page 425, Rombauer, IS; Becker, MR; and Becker, E. 1997. The Joy of Cooking. New York:Scribner.