Monday Mealtime, Delayed

It seems more and more, I put things off for "later in the day", but when "later in the day" comes I have forgotten to do whatever it was I needed to do.  This post is one of those times.  I had everything ready to go, I just forgot to actually do it. :/ No worries, because I'm doing it now.  Better late than never, right?!?
I actually posted a couple of weeks ago about trying to can my own peaches. I was so nervous about it. How would they look? Would they seal? How would they taste when we pull them out of their jars? So many questions, and I didn't even list the ones about how to actually DO the canning. So, I had to just jump in and do it.
I started by blanching the peaches and peeling the skins off.  I only had 6-8 peaches for this first try so I could see how it goes. All but one of them peeled wonderfully.  Okay, step one done.  I sliced up the peeled peaches and put them into the jars (I opted for cold packing) and then I heated up the sugar water mix.
Of course, this whole time I had the hot-water bath going so it was ready for the jars. Once the syrup was ready, I poured it into the jars with the fruit, but the lids on, threw them into the hot-water bath and crossed my fingers I had done everything right. I waited the prescribed amount of time and pulled them out to cool.  I got my pings and knew they had sealed, but it was just a matter of whether they taste alright. You can see there was still room in those jars, but when you're filling them, it doesn't feel that way.  Next time I will overfill them in hopes they will settle again and fit perfectly.

I was a little afraid to open the jar to find out if they were any good.  I finally got the courage and opened one up.  It smelled good, so I served it up for myself the kids and we tried them out. Well, they were a hit! It was a little too sweet for my taste and I might look into using juice next time, but the kids LOVED them! They wanted more and more.  I only got to taste one piece because they ate the rest. I am so glad it went well.  I am feeling more confident now and am ready to try pears. We'll see how that goes.

No more pictures, Mom, let's eat!

I did refer to a couple of websites to help me out.  I found PickYourOwn the most helpful, but I also referred to Food In Jars Canning 101when I had questions about things that seemed odd or didn't make sense.

Okay, this turned out to be a super long post, but I was super excited about this! I can't believe how easy it was to can! I am really looking forward to doing this again, and with more produce. Maybe I can get some real stock built up to "last through the winter".  ;)