Oh. My. God. These cherries are one of those new favorite foods of mine, where I think, “Where have these been all my life?” I enjoy the homemade so much more than store bought. Luxardo Cherries are traditionally dark cherries soaked in Luxardo Liqueur used to garnish cocktails like a maraschino. You can use any cherry you choose (I use red Queen Ann cherries from my trees). Note that the syrup in this recipe is not as thick as there’s no fake corn syrup added here. The taste is a perfect blend of all my favorite Sicilian flavors; anise, cinnamon, and citrus. And of course, cherries. Ingredients 1 pound cherries, destemmed (pitting optional) 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 5 black peppercorns 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 1 lemon (peels only) 1 cup Luxardo liqueur Directions Wash and destem the cherries. Pitting is optional though I personally leave them in, otherwise they get eaten too quickly (ask me how I know that). :) Bring the water and sugar to a simmer in a large saucepot, stirring to dissolve. Add the peppercorns, anise, cinnamon, and lemon peels. Allow to gently simmer for about five minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat and add in the Luxardo liqueur. Stir to combine and then add the cherries. Make sure the cherries are evenly coated. Allow to soak in the syrup as they cool. WATER BATH CANNING
The cherries can be hotpacked into pint-sized mason jars. Simply fill the jars with the hot cherries leaving 1/2” headspace. Add the syrup in each jar to coat the cherries up to 1/4” headspace and can for 15 minutes. Store the processed jars in a cool dry area until using. Refrigerate after opening. REFRIGERATE If not canning, simply pack the cherries and syrup in a mason jar and store in the refrigerator. Discard after one month if not eaten.
Beans are a low acid food. Therefore, they require pressure canning and not water bath canning. Low acid foods like beans must be heated to an extremely high temperature that is not possible to reach in a water bath method. This high temperature is what makes the beans shelf stable.
Homegrown (or store bought) black beans are easy to make, and very high in nutrients. For reference I can 32 pint jars from 5 pounds of dry black beans.
Directions Soak black beans in a large pot or bowl of water so that they are submerged by at least 1 inch. Soak for 12 to 24 hours before you intend to can. I use the cold pack method, which means after the beans have finished soaking, I drain them, rinse them and then spoon them directly into clean and sterilized mason jars. I leave 1/2 inch headspace and then pour non-chlorinated water over the beans so that they are submerged within the mason jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space. Carefully wipe clean the rims of the jars and add a new lid and affix with a ring. Screw to finger tight. I do not add salt to the beans. Load the pressure canner with the jarred beans according to your pressure canner guidelines. In addition to the water at the bottom of the pressure canner pot, I add 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to keep the outsides of the jars from calcifying. Close the pressure canner, turn on the burner, and bring to a boil so that the pressure begins to rise. Close the steam valve according to your pressure canner guidelines and process the jars at 10 pounds of pressure for 75 minutes. After 75 minutes turn off the burner. Once the steam is no longer rising from the steam valve remove the 10 pounds of pressure setting to allow steam valve to fully open and for remaining steam to fully escape. Once there is no more steam escaping from the fully opened steam valve, remove the lid while standing back and using oven mits. Caution—steam is extremely hot. Allow jars to cool within the pot. Carefully remove the jars once cooled, one at a time, and place on top of a dish towel on the counter. Check that all of the lids are properly sealed by placing one finger in the center of the lid of each jar and then pressing down. If it fluctuates, then the jar was not properly sealed and can be re-processed. If the jar lid does not fluctuate, a proper seal has been made, and they may be stored out of sunlight, in a dark and cool location, such as a pantry or a cupboard. |
So what do you do with all that food you grow? This blog has some ideas.
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