See! Even those black clouds have a silver lining!

Tonight, with rain threatening, this huge cloud bank boiled up in the west, just as the sun was setting. It reminded me once again that no matter how bleak and black things seem at the time that if you hang in there, the sun is shining somewhere and just maybe that cloud really does have a silver lining if I just turn and look for it.

Readers’ questions:

Canning Swiss chard

You mentioned in your last blog that you can swiss chard – never knew that could be done or if any one ever did! I haven’t found a recipe for this. We have friends handing us bunches of swiss chard and I would love to know how to can this so we can enjoy other times of the year. Can this also be done with beet greens? And do these go with water bath or pressure can? Thanks so much for sharing all your experience with us. You are my “go-to” resource for canning.

Elaine Waskovich
Moscow, Pennsylvania

Swiss chard and beet greens are great canned. In canning books, most group these under the label “Greens,” such as spinach. All are canned the same way in a pressure canner.

Rinse greens thoroughly under running water several times to get rid of grit. Pick off any tough stems or damaged leaves. In a small amount of water in the bottom of a large pot, place greens, covering and heating to steam-wilt. Turn greens when some are wilted to avoid overcooking them. When all are wilted, cut across them several times with a sharp knife to make convenient pieces. Pack hot greens in hot jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Add ½ tsp. salt to pint jars, 1 tsp. to quarts, if desired. Pour boiling water over greens, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Wipe rim of jar clean, place hot, previously simmered lid on jar and screw down ring firmly tight. Process pints for 70 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner. Have fun! — Jackie

Making vanilla extract

Do you have any recipes on making homemade vanilla? What is the difference between vanilla extract, pure, and flavoring?

Gaylene Schwalen
River Falls, Wisconsin

Vanilla extract is just that; vanilla flavoring extracted from vanilla beans, usually in some form of alcohol. This is “pure.” Vanilla flavoring is a non-alcohol, artificial flavoring. Here’s how you can make your own vanilla extract:

4 or 5 vanilla pods
2 cups bourbon, vodka, or brandy

With a large chef’s knife, cut each vanilla bean lengthwise in half and put them in a screw-topped jar with two cups of the alcohol. Cover tightly and let stand for two weeks or longer to achieve a full vanilla flavor. You can buy vanilla beans at health food stores or some of the larger super markets. — Jackie

Canning on an electric stove

I have always used a gas stove but recently because my oxygen level is so low I have to be on oxygen 24/7. I have long tubing so I can move around the house, but I cannot be closer than five feet to any flame, so my question is will a pressure canner work properly on an electric plate or stove?

Helen

Yes, you can surely can on an electric stove (some hot plates don’t work so well, but you could try and see if your canner works with one). I once canned on an electric stove for two years before we switched to propane and wood. It worked fine. Good canning! — Jackie

Mustard bean recipe

I was going to make your mustard bean recipe and think I may have copied it down wrong because I wrote “process 10 minutes in hot water bath” and I am thinking beans have to be canned in a pressure cooker. Could you please set me straight?

Dinah Jo Brosius
Battle Ground, Washington

Good thinking, but these beans are pickles and don’t need to be canned with a pressure canner because of the vinegar. They turn out crispy, yet tender and really are great! — Jackie

Using Jello in freezer jam

I found an Amish recipe for freezer jam using zucchini. My question — how can I convert this to a canning jam? It requires a box of apricot Jello – can I substitute pectin? if so, powder or liquid? Hot water bath 15 minutes? Do you need me to send the complete recipe?

Mary Ann Helwig
Red Lion, Pennsylvania

If this is the zucchini jam with pineapple, lemon juice, and apricot Jello, you don’t need to substitute pectin. Just simmer the zucchini till clear, add the pineapple and Jello, heat to boiling, then ladle into sterilized jars. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner to ensure seal.

If not, send the recipe and I’ll see what it needs. — Jackie

Canned food shelf life

I canned many jars of food that are now about 2 years old. They look ok, but how can I tell if they are still ok to be eaten? Love your book and hope to get the next one. I am not young, almost 70, but still am very active with garden, full time job, kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. Am trying to instill in them country values and the need to be aware of the powers that be.

Sandra Bullock
Westlake, Louisiana

Your food is perfect if the jars remain sealed, the food looks okay and smells okay. Some of my pantry food is over 10 years old and I’m happy to break open a jar anytime! Enjoy your canning and family! — Jackie

Detouring yellow jackets

I would like to know if you have any way to detour yellow jackets from making nests in your house. We had a large nest last year that we didn’t know about till we just happened to notice jackets in one of our bedrooms. You could put your ear on the wall and hear the activity. An old farmer said that they would eat thru the wallboard if we didn’t take care of the nest. He suggested Sevin (powder insecticide) and a turkey baster and to pump it into the entrance hole after sundown. Well the nest was gone the next morning. The theory is that they (the guards) will track the poison all the way up and poison the whole nest something that sprays can’t do. Now I would like to see how I can keep them from doing all this damage to begin with and not to mention the smell of all of the rotting flesh they they must have had stored, the smell was hideous for quite sometime.
Yellow jackets are very nasty little critters.

Michelle
Fresno, Ohio

No I don’t. The good news is that “usually” when one nest has been eliminated, the yellow jackets don’t seem to come back to the same area again. Just to be safe, really, really pay attention to activity around your house next spring. The yellow jacket traps (jar with bait hung away from your door) also help prevent nest building as it reduces the population around your house. — Jackie

Comfrey

My question is I noticed that you mentioned comfrey in one of your articles in this last magazine, do you use this herb? I have this growing in my back yard in a row of four and I know its use can be for putting on bruises, is there another use for it?

Linda Gijswijt
Rock Island, Tennessee

I use it, myself, on bruises, sprains, and as a poultice on abrasions and burns. I also feed it to my chickens, goats, and calves. There is a great controversy over ingesting comfrey (as in comfrey tea), as some folks swear by it but others (experts) say it can cause kidney and other internal damage. So read up on it (type “using comfrey” in your browser) and form your own decision. — Jackie

New growing and canning book

In your new growing and canning book, do you cover which varieties of veggies are best for what, which are “all at once harvest,” which grow all season, which are bush vs vine, which grow best where, etc.? I tried canning beefsteak tomatoes and wasn’t as happy with the results as some of the other varieties, for example.

Dani Payne
Rose, Oklahoma

Yes and no. I did discuss different types of tomatoes; determinate “bush” and indeterminate “vine,” but couldn’t get into too many details of which grow best where, etc., for sake of space constraints. As I covered not only growing, but canning in the book, I had to cram as much information into an affordable book as possible. I hope you like the results! — Jackie

Weeds, winter gardening, and apple cider vinegar

One, we have a large, raised garden bed, as high as one railroad tie. We constantly loose our battle with weeds, and they just take over our garden no matter how hard we try to keep on top of it. The heat and humidity here just makes them thrive. I was thinking if we raised the bed, tilled in the weeds, composted on top, and dumped a new layer of topsoil in, THAT might kill the weeds. Otherwise, we were thinking of purchasing the industrial type of weed fabric to tarp over our garden. What would you suggest?

Andrea Del Gardo
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

You have several options in your battle with those frustrating weeds. First you could till your beds (or some of them), water them well, then cover them with black plastic, weighting the sides down to keep it in place. Let this “cook” in the sun for six weeks or more. This generally kills all weed seeds, roots, and shoots. It’s best, of course, to do this when the daytime temperatures are above 60 degrees.

Yes, you can raise your beds, but after tilling the existing soil well, I’d put several layers of plain (not shiny or colored) newspaper down over it, then add WELL composted material and topsoil. Be sure the topsoil doesn’t come from an area where there might be grass or weed seeds or your problem will start all over again.

A third option is to let one or more beds remain fallow and pull weeds, till it and pull more weeds until there just aren’t any more coming up. This has worked well for me.

You might try growing greens such as spinach, Swiss chard and kale, onions, and even carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and turnips. These are all potential winter garden crops, depending of course, on your climate and particular winter you get. I’d sure do some experimenting if I had a mild winter! Good luck.

Making cider vinegar is an art, and also requires some experimenting and experience to get it right. But if you have the apples, here’s the basics:

Juice your raw apples, making the cider. Strain. Add 2 cups sugar to 1 gallon fresh cider. If you can obtain a mother (that jelly-like glob on the bottom of natural cider), add this to the crock. If not, you can try to catch “wild” bacteria (you may or may not get the right one). Cover your crock with a clean towel and leave in a warm spot. Smell then taste your vinegar to see if it’s strong enough to suit you. When you like the taste, strain it, keeping your mother in a sterilized jar, with some vinegar to keep “her” happy until next time. You can reuse your mother over and over again. You can pasteurize your vinegar by heating it to 145 degrees and holding it there gently for 30 minutes. But this kills the bacteria, making this vinegar unable to start a new mother or new batch of vinegar. But it does keep it clear and nice. — Jackie

Canning tomatoes

I have just canned whole Roma tomatoes using the raw pack method in the Ball Blue book. I am using older quart jars that were given to my wife and I. After inspecting for damage on the jars we processed them following the instructions in the Ball book but one jar, a “Ball Perfect Mason,” seems to have lost liquid, remains sealed, but unlike the rest of the jars the tomatoes are sinking. Is this jar going to survive and what could have caused this?

John and Leslie Glenn
Lancaster, Ohio

This is probably nothing to worry about. The jar may have been packed a little too full, causing it to blow out some of the liquid during processing. Did you pressure can the tomatoes? This is more common during pressure canning than boiling water bath processing. As long as the jar remains sealed, I wouldn’t worry. — Jackie

Cast iron waffle maker

I just bought an old Wagner cast iron waffle maker. It has a huge base. Since I don’t have a wood cook stove do you think I can use it on my gas stove? It fits right over the burner. Or could I sit my cast iron griddle on the 2 burners and sit the waffle maker on top? It really looks like it will take that thing a long time to heat up. I’m new at all this stuff and yes it’s okay to have a good laugh about my ignorance.

Jerry Davis
Pangburn, Arkansas

No laughing here! I don’t really know the best way to use a wood stove waffle iron on a conventional stove either! I THINK you could use it directly on the burner if the burner was turned way low. You’ll have to experiment here! Be sure to gently brush melted shortening on the iron before heating, and in between each use to prevent sticking. Use less batter than you think at first so you don’t have any oozing out. Heat the iron well on both sides before you bake your first waffle. After spooning your batter on the iron, close it, bake a few minutes (also an experiment) and then turn it over to do the other side. Turn off the heat, then take the iron off the base and open it gently. The waffle should be fairly easy to remove with a fork. Keep it warm and brush iron again with a light coat of melted shortening and do the next one. If you work quickly, you shouldn’t have to re-heat the iron before baking the next waffle. At first it’ll be hard to get the hang of it and you may have to dig the first waffle out of the iron with a fork…in pieces. But with practice and determination, you should master it. Let us know how it works out. — Jackie

Green bean recipes

Finally got a garden, froze the first picking of string beans after blanching them. Got a little tired of just nuked string beans and beans with mushroom soup with the crispy onions on top last winter. Is there a recipe for a green bean quiche? Or other green bean recipes for men that cook?

Jan Wesselius
Chatham, Michigan

I use my green beans in about everything! Just use your favorite quiche recipe, then toss in a handful of beans after they’ve simmered to tenderize them. One of my favorite “man” dishes is diced ham and onions, stir fried with green beans added. It helps if you have some bacon grease left over to fry them in. You won’t have leftovers! Or make a chicken pot pie with a double pie crust (top and bottom), using diced chicken, gravy, diced potatoes, onions, carrots, and green beans. After you seal the top, cut a couple of vent holes in the top, brush butter on top and bake at 350 degrees until the top is golden and bubbly. Enjoy those beans! — Jackie

Enchilada sauce recipe

My tomatoes have run amok this summer and have gone into hyperdrive. I’ve gotten over 250 lbs off of 18 Roma plants. I’ve canned all the usuals that we eat but now I’m looking for an enchilada sauce to can. Do you have a favorite that you are willing to share?

Donna Braun
Devore, California

Here is a good enchilada sauce recipe that I’ve used. I hope you’ll like it too.

45-50 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 1/3 cups chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
7 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups oil
1 1/3 cups flour

Place the tomatoes in a large stainless steel or enamel kettle. Heat gently to soften tomatoes. Run through food mill fitted with fine screen to remove seeds and skins. Return pulp and juice to the pan. If the tomatoes are juicy, simmer the sauce for at least 1 hour. When you have a thick tomato juice, but not yet tomato sauce, add the garlic salt, salt, sugar, and chili powder. Stir well.

In a separate pan heat oil and add flour to make a roux. Blend 4 cups warm tomato juice to roux and mix well. Quickly stir roux paste into boiling tomato juice. Continue stirring to avoid lumps until mixture thickens. If too thick, add water until desired consistency is reached. Adjust seasonings. Ladle into hot jars and process pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner (if you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet, see your canning book for directions on increasing your pressure to suit your altitude, if necessary).

Note: While there IS flour in this recipe, it is not enough to seriously thicken this recipe, which would render it unsafe for canning. — Jackie

Lamp oil source and squash seeds

My husband wanted me to ask you if you know of a source to buy larger quantities of lamp oil. Locally we can only seem to find liters or quarts; he wants to buy it in a 5 gallon container.

Marty Young
Huntington, Massachusetts

I don’t know of an economical source of bulk lamp oil. I buy my kerosene in bulk from a fuel dealer that supplies farmers with oils, diesel, and gasoline, buying 5 gallons at a time. Any readers have any ideas for Marty?

Did you store your Hopi Pale Grey seeds in an airtight jar? They could have possibly gotten moist which would cause them to not germinate. A simple germination test is to take a washcloth, dampen it with warm water, place three seeds in the middle, then fold it up around the seeds. Keep this in a small jar with a top on it, in a warm place. Don’t let the cloth dry out, but don’t keep it soggy, either. The seeds should germinate within about 10 days. If not, they’re probably dead. Hope Pale Grey squash are very, very forgiving of growing conditions, but the seeds do need moisture to germinate; if the hills dry out after the seeds are planted, they will die, so keep ’em moist but not soggy. — Jackie

Salty pickles

I made dill pickles for the first time, using fresh picked cucumbers and the Ball Canning book recipe, they are over the top salty (recipe called for 1/2 cup canning salt). Can I alter the recipe to use less salt the next time around?

Darnell Rogers
Arden North Carolina

I think that somehow you made a mistake in your measuring; either salt or vinegar/water. The 1/2 cup of salt is pretty much standard, and I’ve never had very salty dill pickles, using that or a similar recipe. No, you shouldn’t reduce the salt as this recipe has water mixed with the vinegar, which dilutes it and could cause spoilage without the salt, as well. Try it again, and see what results you have with another batch. I think you’ll be pleased. — Jackie