Nona: Can you help me with some good recipes for canning stuff? I stuffed some ham in a jar with pickle juice, and it sure didn’t taste like Spam when I ate it. In fact, I’m pretty sure it made me sick, and the trailer smells like roadkill. Still Sick in Stanley Dear Sick, I don’t think you understand the concept of canning. You need to prepare your food items to preserve them. You can’t just throw your leftovers in a jar and hope to eat them in the spring! Maybe you’d be better off freezing your roadkill from now on.

Anyway, the Lublin Ladies Guild and Truck Pull Committee met for its big canning day over the weekend. The Ladies used to have a big quilt contest, but then they heard how much they could make on beer sales if they held a truck pull instead. They’re enterprising ladies, that’s for sure.

Anyway, we had quite a crowd Saturday afternoon. The ladies did their canning in the banquet room at Stosh’s Place and the men drained cans at the bar.

It was the perfect Lublin couple’s event!

Let’s start canning!

Here are a couple of my favorites!

Rummage Relish Ingredients

8 cups cored and chopped green tomatoes 4 cups peeled, cored and chopped red tomatoes 4 cups chopped cabbage 3 cups chopped onion 2 cups chopped cucumber 1 cup chopped green bell pepper 1 cup chopped red bell pepper ½ cup salt 4 cups brown sugar 1 tablespoon celery seed 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon mustard seed 1 teaspoon ground ginger 2 cloves garlic, minced

b

½ teaspoon ground cloves 2 quarts vinegar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the green tomatoes, red tomatoes, cabbage, onion, cucumber, green pepper, and red pepper. Mix with the salt and let stand for 12 to 14 hours in a cool place, if not the refrigerator. Drain and rinse thoroughly.

Prepare 8 pint jars with lids and rings by sterilizing and keeping hot. Set aside.

In a large pot, combine the brown sugar, celery seed, cinnamon, mustard seed, ginger, garlic, cloves

Heat to

and vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add vegetables, and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Bring vegetables to a boil from a simmer and ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Secure lids and rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate any jars that fail to seal properly.

Spicy Cayenne Tomato Jam Ingredients

4 pounds tomatoes, peeled and chopped 1 large apple, peeled and chopped 1 cup raw sugar 1 yellow onion, diced ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup apple cider vinegar 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or more to taste Directions

Combine tomatoes, apple, sugar, onion, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne in a large pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until dark and syrupy, about 2 hours 30 minutes. Continue simmering until mixture thickens to a jamlike consistency, about 30 minutes more.

Remove jam from heat and cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours. Transfer to lidded containers and refrigerate.

Pour remaining