Thanksgiving Canning

Over Thanksgiving, Trevor and I went up to Boise to visit his dad Marvin, and his new wife Delinda. They are great people! We really enjoy spending time with them. It's awesome to see them both so happy. Delinda and I get along great! We enjoy going a lot of the same stuff, namely canning and cooking! 

This time we made homemade lemonade and marinara sauce! I had never made homemade lemonade before, let alone can it! It was great. I got to juice about 5 pounds of lemons, which create quite a bit of juice! Then we added an equal amount of sugar and water (if I remember right). Then we boiled it and put it in cans. The juice was already hot, and so the cans self sealed! 

We also made some homemade marinara sauce. Boy, was it delicious! It was so simple and didn't take long at all. Sometimes, when I think of canning, or when I do it myself, it turns out to be a whole afternoon process. I was really impressed with how quick it was! We did water bath the marinara sauce to seal them. 

I've used a jar of the marinara sauce since we canned them. YUM! I love homemade sauces and this was no exception. I liked it because it was the perfect amount. With only two of us, we don't need a whole quart. And, I was able to season it to my taste when we canned it, so I didn't have to do anything when I finally used it! I'm so canning it again.

A week or two ago, we had Rebecca, Trevor's mom, over for dinner. I decided I wanted a special treat for dinner, so I pulled out one of my jars of canned lemonade, which is actually a concentrate, I added some water to it, but man, it was really good. Sometimes lemonade can be tart and sour. But this was perfectly sweet. Not too sweet and not too tart. It was literally the best lemonade I've had. Best part? It was homemade! I'm convinced that everything is better when it's homemade. 

Marvin and Delinda are great! We can't wait to see them over New Years. You can see in my picture that they also gave us 5 llbs of my favorite Fuji apples. Once we got home I dehydrated them and made apple chips. They lasted probably a total of 3 days! 

We enjoy going up to Boise. The guys get to spend time together doing whenever men do ;) and the women get to spend time together in the kitchen! I always learn something new when I go up, and come home with new goodies! We love you Marvin and Delinda! 

 - SamiMae