The Canvolution (BBB)

Mar
8


According to L.A. Weekly, home canning and pickling is one of the top 10 food trends for 2011. It’s #3, between potted meats (#2) and whoopie pies (#4). (You can see the whole list here. The #1 trend is savory pies.) Sales of canning jars are up, as is media focus on the topic. I investigated the canning trend a little bit, finding this article at Slate, which describes the home canning trend as cute, modish, and overwrought in a largely negative piece that emphasizes the investment of time, money, and energy into a fad not much worthy of reviving. They pretty much boil it down to something people do to impress their friends or out of some misguided zeal. The Slate article concludes: “There’s nothing blameworthy about the pickling and preserving fervor, but let’s be honest: It’s not about producing serious food for the future, and it’s not about shaking a fist at industrial food. (After all, it’s not Claussen and Heinz that eco-conscious consumers worry about so much as suppliers of meat, milk, and produce.) Rather, it’s about making and sharing delicious, idiosyncratic things that are also, not insignificantly, very pretty.”

I don’t think these people understand us!

While the Food Channel can sometimes be the home of the modish and overwrought, they know enough to find the right people to decipher the home canning trend of today. You can read their interview with Laura Devine of Jarden (Ball) here. She explains the home canning trend this way: “People now are wanting to take produce back into their own hands and control it themselves. They’re saying, ‘I know it’s safe. I can trust this food, because I did it myself.’ Another reason, of course, is simply taste. People love that fresh flavor. And with home canning or freezing, again, they’re in control. If they want to add fresh herbs or spices—things like garlic—they can do it. If they want less sodium in their canned tomatoes, or less sugar in their canned or frozen fruit, they can do that.” And: “Folks really like the idea of capturing the flavor of fresh produce. Another reason, I think, is the sense of accomplishment you feel when you’ve done it. It becomes sort of like a hobby for many people. And people like giving home-canned foods as gifts. There’s something special about giving a gift of something homemade.”

These are the people who understand us! And speaking of Ball….

***

Ball Blue BookIt’s a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today’s Ball Blue Book is sponsored by Billie at No Crack Cream–check out her great stuff here.

For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a Ball Blue Book. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight (March 8). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow (March 9). Return to this post to claim your book if your name is drawn (or check the BBB Winners List).

Find out more about the Ball Blue Book Project and become a sponsor.

UPDATE 03/09/11: The winning comment number, drawn by random.org, is #95, joanne. Email me at CITRgiveaways(at)yahoo.com with your full name and address for shipping!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED TO ENTRY.

Comments

  1. zeitgewandt says:

    who doesn’t know the strange looks from other people when you say “oh, I made that.”.. Good to know there are others out there. :yes:
    BBB please!

  2. Mary Beth says:

    I have never, ever had store-bought canned produce as good as the home-canned peaches, apricots, dilly beans, applesauce, and pears my mom and sisters produced. Nothing you can buy from the store has the long warm afternoons blanching and peeling peaches at the sink with your three-year-old nieces, or the golden sweetness of love and summer in a bottle.

  3. Wanda says:

    I want the BBB please

  4. Julie says:

    Ooooh – Hubs and I close on our first home a month from now and I am already planning the garden. I’d love to learn how to preserve our extras! BBB

  5. Michelle says:

    Yes, I’d like to be in the drawing!

  6. laur says:

    of COURSE I want it…pleeeeeeease
    I am going to IN to help my sweet girl when she has her 6th baby. I have so much to talk about to those children! Maybe they can help me figure out how to handle their large, grumpiesh uncle teens . and they love cookery books! We all do! I can hardly wait to show them leaping sheepies, and door opening cats…Thank you for living my dream, suzanne! We’ll join you someday.
    laur

  7. Richelle says:

    Yes, BBB please!

  8. farmershae says:

    I don’t think my pressure canner and I are “cool” enugh to be part of the trend. I’ll just keep providing food for my family and leave the fads to others!!! :devil2: BBB me please!

  9. Jean - MN says:

    BBB please – thanks

  10. mary ellen says:

    BBB please

    Mary Ellen

  11. Martha Kiner says:

    BBB – Pick me! I would love the book. I have done water canning in the past and plan on delving into pressure canning this summer. Love the site and recipes.

  12. Rachel says:

    BBB please! I would love to make some jams and jellies this summer!

  13. Trudy says:

    Canning is simply the best way to preserve your harvest so that you can open your cellar on a cold winter day and see shelf after shelf of food that will easily fill your table with a healthy, beautiful meal. Now, what could be better? Those who think otherwise are those who just don’t know any better…

    BBB, please

  14. Kathy in FL says:

    I learned how to can from my Mom, and I’ve been canning my own tomatoes for over 30 years. I don’t thing that’s a “fad”. BBB, please!

  15. lauren says:

    Well they have obviously never even had homemade strawberry jam!! nothing in the stores compares! They really should have done a taste test before writing cause all they did was make themselves look like an a** LOL

  16. Rose in Vermont says:

    I think my original is more than 20 years old. Probably time for a new one – please!

  17. Lauren says:

    :snuggle: Modish and overwrought…give me a break people! I’m with you “these people don’t understand us!” Thanks! BBB

  18. Rachel says:

    Well I’ve never canned before and this will be my first summer doing so. Call me trendy…except I have only read about canning here. Maybe Suzanne is trendy!
    I feel the need to do it, not to impress friends (who won’t be impressed) but like the later article stated, to take further control of the food my family consumes! But also reading so much about it on this site has removed some of the fear I had associated with what had to be a daunting task. I remember my mother sweating in out kitchen canning for hours and hours and hours. Didn’t seem fun. Now, because of you all, I think it will be. I’m ready for the task!
    BBB please!

  19. Anke says:

    Modish and overwrought? People have been preserving food for a long time and I’m glad the trend is going back to “do it yourself”.
    BBB, pretty please.

  20. Mim says:

    BBB please :pawprint:

  21. Roslyn McNeill says:

    hey, I AM shaking my fist at agribusiness. They just don’t get it or us, do they? Very sad….I hope I can win the BBB!!

  22. Glenie says:

    BBB I would love to have this as a save canning resource.

  23. Sherry says:

    Hi Suzanne,

    I’m with them on the savory pies thing! We make a few Shepherds pies at a time and freeze them. Very easy dinner to thaw one out and pop it in the oven. Of course, we do like to can also and could use a BBB at our farm.

    Many best- Sherry

  24. B. Ruth says:

    I’ll admit that when there is a super sale you can buy a can of beans or tomatoes cheaper than you can raise, buy jars, time to process etc….but I got tired of the taste, end pieces and sticks in my store bought sodium canned produce not to count the excess chemicals that might be in the produce before canning…LOL
    My two grown sons pickle and can…I taught them how and they grow
    some of their own produce…BBB would be nice…
    Just found a really old BBB in my Moms estate she was 93 when she passed this year and she made some jelly last year…she learned to can from her Mom. They have been cute and modish for several hundred years..I wish to be canning that long!

  25. ChicagoGal4Ever says:

    I definitely want one! My mom & I are talking about going to the CITR. I think it would be so great!

  26. justdeborah2002 says:

    indeed friends look at me like I’m either crazy or a goddess when I show them what I’ve made this week, so I understand….would love to win the BBB!

  27. Brittany P. says:

    I have been trying for a while to win one of these lovely BBB’s. I hope I win this time b/c I want to start canning soon and this BBB would be just the help I need to begin. :wave:

  28. Susan Wells says:

    BBB, please! Love your blog!

  29. wildcat says:

    Modish and overwrought? Hmph! How awesome would it be, to have summer fresh produce, in the middle of winter? You can, if you know how to CAN! :snoopy:

    BBB please!

  30. Sarita says:

    BBB please. I am looking forward to canning this season!

  31. Brigitte says:

    I would love to learn how to can!! BBB

  32. windspiritwhimsies says:

    I want to join the Canvolution and learn to can! Please enter me for BBB! :woof:

  33. Sally says:

    Oh my! They really don’t get us. I don’t get “them” either. Potted meat? BBB please. Thanks Suzanne you educate and entertain. Bless you

  34. Teresa says:

    I’ve learned so much from this site with all the comments, suggestions, recipes, etc. Thanks to all!
    BBB please

  35. Gem says:

    I neeeeeed a BBB – Please!

  36. lilac wolf says:

    BBB I agree, the point is being in control. And it will taste better being fresh and made to your own tastes. My ex-MIL made the best pickles ever, and her freezer jam is the best stuff ever. She knew what strawberries to buy to make it with…always as soon as they came in season in our state, she never used the stuff shipped in from CA and Mexico.

  37. Pete says:

    Just have to add that I have been called a LOT of things in my life, but “modish” was never one of them! Soooo glad to know that I am now motivated by what is trendy! :snoopy:

    Not…

  38. Kari says:

    Ugh – darn hipsters. They have to go and get a negative review for something that has been done by the women in my family for generations, myself included. We don’t do it because it is cute and pretty, but because it is a great way to take advantage of a bountiful harvest and feed your family. The added bonus of eating our home-grown produce in the dead of our long and cold Wisconsin winter is another huge bonus.

    BBB for me too, please! 🙂

  39. thistlewoodmanor says:

    I must be trendy, people call me requesting jars of pickled mushrooms and jams and jellies. They use them for themselves and for gift baskets….everyone I know loves homed canned goodies!

  40. bonnie schmidt says:

    Bbb, please and long live canning!

  41. hollygee says:

    I’d like a copy, please. Thank you and thank your sponsors.

  42. Naomi says:

    BBB Please 🙂

  43. Nana says:

    I would love to win this Blue Ball Book. I still go and borrow my mom’s when I need it!! I have been canning for years, and am hoping to teach my daughter to can this summer. I am one of the lucky few who grew up with a mom and grandmother who canned every year. It was later in life that I learned – to my surprize!! -that not everybody did this!

  44. Jan Derksen says:

    cute and modish, hmmm??? well, that’s a first!!! LOL…I’ll confess to LOTS of experience at being overwrought, tho!!! I’m hoping to learn about pressure canning this year, but I’ve been water bath canning since I was tall enough to stand at the stove safely!!! cute…heeheehee!!! I love it!!! and I’d love the BBB as well, please!!!

  45. Cheryl R says:

    Suzanne, I love your Chickens in the Road Blog. It is so wonderful to read about your farm life and the animals, etc that give you so many beautiful stories.

    Thanks for all you post.

    Also, please list me in the drawing for the BBB.

  46. Sheepie~Girl says:

    PLEASE pick me for the BBB!

  47. Kat J, Arizona says:

    BBB Please!

  48. Tricia in TEXAS says:

    BBB! Waiting for the day you’re gonna pick ME!!! :snuggle:

  49. Urbanite says:

    I remember reading that Slate article when it came out. There are 2 things to bear in mind: 1) Slate quite often publishes in their Arts/Life sections shallow fluff pieces that appear to be based on inadequate knowledge or research and even their readers may not take it seriously, and 2) a good many commenters to the article criticized its ridiculous assertions about the (lack of) value of home canning. I quite like reading Slate when I’m in the mood for mindless entertainment, but I don’t ever take any of their stuff seriously.

    I already have a BBB, so please don’t enter me in the drawing.

  50. LeAnn says:

    BBB please :woof:

  51. Denise says:

    bbb please 🙂

    I love your site!!!

  52. katpecosa1 says:

    Obviously they have never had “canned” green beans for dinner – there is a major difference between the quality of home canned produce and the cans you buy at the store.

    I would love to learn to can – BBB please!

  53. J Leu says:

    How can preserving food not be taken seriously. If it is a fad, then it is the longest fad I have ever heard of..
    If the economy collapses and there is no more food, everyone has to meet at Suzanne’s. We know she is hoarding. heh heh

    I want the book. I would like to start a fad at my house.

  54. JoyS says:

    I think I will just go on with my lifestyle…and if I am suddenly ‘modish’…’cute’…or ‘overwrought’ according to them, I will still just go on with what I do. What they think of it is of no concern to me. I get to eat better food on a daily basis than they will ever understand. Hm. time to go mix some homemade kefir with my canned blueberry juice from last summer for breakfast.

    They can go buy some premixed blueberry kefir, in those cute little plastic bottles, for 3.84+ a serving….I think we are the s benefiting. So I dont care what they call what I do!

    PS You can buy kefir grains online…and they GROW! haven’t killed mine yet and my husband swears it is making his digestive system very very happy!

  55. Linda in San Diego says:

    I would like to win the BBB after my husband told me this yesterday, “I forgot all about it, but under my dad’s house there are boxes and boxes of Ball jars.” LOL, now I have a source for the jars! and now I just have to convince my son to squeeze in under there….

  56. JoyS says:

    I think we are the *ones* benefiting…

  57. Pam C says:

    BBB please :).

  58. Debbie says:

    I don’t care what anyone else says, I LOVE to can and eat the food we’ve prepared. Would love to have a BBB!

  59. LauraP says:

    I just found a you-pick farm yesterday in the Pittsburgh area. I’d love to be able to go this summer and start canning!

  60. Joy Domian says:

    BBB Please, I have the nicest pressure cooker and I use it too. When I tell people I love my pressure cooker, they just raise an eyebrow and look at me like I am strange. They just don’t know what they are missing.

  61. prayingpup says:

    Ohhhh, I cannot wait for canning season, gardening season, dehydrating season, freezing season. BBB Please!

  62. Renee says:

    I would love a BBB.

  63. Shelley says:

    I’d love a BBB! It’s too bad when reporters completely miss the point of something as wonderful as canning your own food.

  64. Heidi says:

    Totally want to can for putting up future food! Knowing where my food came from and it’s safety are of paramount importance to me and my family. BBB please~

  65. rainss61 says:

    A fad??-are these people real or what!!?? :sheep: How about feeding yourself and your family great food from your own garden–hello :snoopy: !! And for some of us-who have canning jars handed down over the years :happyflower: –just a way to get by!! Thanks for explaining the real way it is Suzanne!! And my tattered old BBB could use a replacement-or other title to the story-my daughter is threatening to take mine any day!!! :purpleflower: BBB :purpleflower: BBB :heart: BBB :heart: have a great day!!

  66. Jennifer S says:

    BBB please!

  67. Christina Bredenkamp says:

    I WANT it! Thanks! LOL

  68. Ramona says:

    I’ve got a buncha jars. Just needs some stuff to put into them and some good recipes!

  69. Kristen A says:

    BBB me please! Thank you Billie!

  70. Lori says:

    Please put me in for the BBB!

  71. marymac says:

    One of these days I will win this BBB!!

  72. Linda T. says:

    BBB please — thanks Suzanne and Billie!

  73. Laurie says:

    I too and looking forward to canning this year for the first time! I really want the BBB please!

  74. Andrea Pierce says:

    Count me in on the BBB, please! It’s funny how things suddenly become a popular focus, yet so many people have been doing this for a long time, for all the reasons listed above. All of the sudden it’s “a fad”. Well, maybe some people will get caught up in the “fad” and decide it really is a nice lifestyle. And so rewarding.

  75. Cindy O'Dear says:

    Thank you for the opportunity to win this BBB book!

  76. Ramona Slocum says:

    It’s interesting to read that people are going back to canning. It’s something I have never given up. I’m a widow. I cook for myself and I still have a small garden and can and freeze my food. Besides tasting good, it is also money saving. I would enjoy a new canning book. Pls put me in for the BBB drawing.
    Thanks.
    MN Mona

  77. Joy (from Illinois) says:

    Count me in on the drawing.

  78. Gerry says:

    BBB for me please!

  79. Tina says:

    Yipeee! BBB me, please! I started canning when I first had my own garden 20 some years ago. If a windfall of fruit or produce ever came my way, wether it be because of a sale at the market or someone’s generosity, I canned. I have always enjoyed ‘doing things myself’, and I have a rather pioneering spirit. For me,canning isn’t a trend, it’s just the way I roll! Hee hee! Happy Canning and Preserving!

  80. Alicia Nakamura says:

    Well then, is having a home garden and using that produce a fad? Is raising some of your own livestock a fad? For some it may be, those who live in big cities and couldn’t imagine life without their Starbucks or designer clothes and bags. They don’t get us, and many many of them never will. I don’t get how a person could spend over $100 on ONE pair of jeans!! LOL I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing, fads and trends change, but I don’t think you can argue with generation after generation of strong, resourceful women! :shimmy: BBB please! :snoopy:

  81. Amy I. says:

    BBB for me…please!

  82. Nancy Stickler says:

    The only downside of canning with my daughter and niece this summer was we did it for 11 hrs straight! Two of us got silly and the other thought we had lost our minds! Everything else was a plus and the memories are priceless….you can’t get that at a grocery store! BBB

  83. Jennifer B says:

    Oh, I so want that! It is on my to-buy wishlist for this year. I have been canning for ten years, or so, and felt like I was missing something major in my life and pantry when I couldn’t do it last year (we moved half-way across the country.) This year, my entire planned garden is geared towards how I can preserve my harvest and make it last – not towards what will look pretty and modish!

  84. joanne says:

    Wow, reading that article in Slate just about put me over the edge. There is nothing like opening my closet in the kitchen to jars (and more jars) of preserved food – from my garden, friends gardens and more. It allows me to eat out of season while eating local, I know what is in the jars and it just tastes better – not to mention that there are many jars that just bring us back to childhood. And really, where are you going to buy dilly beans for the price of a quart of vinegar?

    So yes, I want the BBB.

  85. mammaleigh says:

    Would love to get one!!! Its almost spring and I am hoping I will need one for the veggies I bring in from the garden!!

  86. Betsy says:

    I’d definitely love to have that book! Learning to can is on my to-learn list for this year.

  87. Jeanne says:

    I was wrong last time: TODAY is my lucky day! BBB!!

  88. Debbie R says:

    There’s nothing like opening up a home canned jar of sauce on a winter’s day. I grew the garlic and basil myself and bought the tomatoes from Liz at a local farm (I live in the middle of the city, otherwise I’d grow them myself). When I open that jar I remember the day I made the sauce, remember that summer will come again. It’s not a fad, it’s a way of living in closer connection with your food from seed to table. BBB please!

  89. Miss Becky says:

    thanks Billie, for sponsoring this giveaway. BBB!

  90. Nadeanne says:

    BBB Please!!

  91. Jessica Womochil says:

    I am a city girl who is engaged to a good ole country boy! I love the country life style, and I wouldn’t trade my new life for anything! I didn’t even know you could can your own food until I had canned green beans from my future mother in law. Talk about delicious!!! How could one not know such a wonderful thing existed!?

    I got a stock pot/canner for christmas and I’m asking for a pressure cooker for my birthday comming up in April! I love providing my family with good food, and canning my own fruits and veggies would be a dream come true! Not only because it is delicious but it is but it is safe! The safty of my family is my number one priority.

    So with the guidence of my mother in law and this book, I can’t even begin to think about the canning that could go on in my kitchen. My mouth is watering!

    BBB, please please please!!!

    Thank you for the chance to win!!!

  92. BunnyRuth says:

    I don’t calim to set any records, but if the author looked in my pantry they would not be able to say that my home canning doesn’t make a difference. Every year we put up hundreds of jars of veg and fruit and it makes an enormous difference in our budget… and our taste buds!

    Now if someone went out, spent top price ($12-$14 per dozen) for a box of jars, made one batch of strawberry jam from store bought, imported berries in mid winter and gave it all away to people who then threw away the jars, then I would say yes, the efforts did not make a big dent in their life. But most canners do so much more.

    Oh…. and if that is all you did last year, please don’t think I am knocking your efforts. We all start somewhere 😀

    I have several BBB’s in my house including hte most recent, so please give the book to someone else… I just had to comment.

    Have a great day all,
    Ruth in NH :pinkbunny: (who has already put up 23 pints of soup stock in 2011)

  93. CrystalGB says:

    There is nothing like home canned food. I would love the BBB.

  94. Teri says:

    would love to win a BBB!

  95. Pam says:

    I want it, I do, I do! BBB gods, please shine down on me.

  96. Christa says:

    BBB please! Love your site! …and there is nothing better than home canned dilly beans in a Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning (or any time)!

  97. debbie says:

    BBB for me please! :happyflower:

  98. Esther L. says:

    I’d love to win!

  99. Renee says:

    It’s a shame so many people go thru life w/o getting to taste how delicious home-canned is vs. that junk in a can in the store! BBB, pls.

  100. annabel52 says:

    OK one more try. I might be my lucky day. Sign me up for the BBB

  101. Gini says:

    They certainly do NOT understand us! BBB

  102. Denny Gross says:

    I want the BBB cookbook just for the cover recipe alone.
    Denny

  103. jlc16 says:

    BBB please! i am dreaming of a pantry full of canned garden goodies! thanks.

  104. kellytorrey says:

    There is something that goes beyond words when you can grab your grandmothers or your great grandmothers dilly bean recipe, whip up a batch and share it with your kids. Canning is a way of touching the past, of laboring for the satisfaction of laboring, and passing along the ideals that we have had handed down to us. BBB please :o)

  105. Amanda says:

    That’s inspirational! I’d love my BBB.

  106. Rachel says:

    BBB Please 🙂

    Some of my favorite childhood memories are helping my mom chop things up for canning!
    I can all my tomatoes and am learning to can a few other things. I know if I had the time I’d can everything!

  107. Jessica says:

    BBB please! I love to can and I am always looking for new recipes!

  108. Terri Draeger says:

    BBB please! Canning is something I grew up doing — & am now passing on to another generation!

  109. mamajoseph says:

    Call me modish or whatever. You cannot buy chow chow like my family makes. I need this book! Pick me!

  110. Melanie says:

    I would heart a BBB! Thanks. 😆

  111. tami says:

    Being in Florida, I just made and canned some orange marmalade, fresh oranges from my tree!!!yum yum. BBB please

  112. Em says:

    BBB Please! Thanks

  113. Jess says:

    I have just started canning. It is like an adventure and I feel so good when I am done! It is like getting in touch with my roots. Everyone should try it!! BBB please!

  114. Patricialynn says:

    BBB please!

    I’ve never watched the Food Channel – never even heard of it. But I am hopelessly addicted to the Food Network. Chopped, The Worst Cook in America, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, etc…hopelessly hooked.

    I’m gonna have to find the Food Channel and check it out as well!

  115. Tessa says:

    Thank you for your blog. I’m finding myself more and more drawn to my granny’s and great-grannies’ ways the more time I spend in a lab & office. Go figure.

    I’d love a copy of the book, if you ship internationally. Otherwise *shrug* someone else gets lucky!

  116. Susan says:

    Would LOVE a BBB !!!

  117. Kathy says:

    Yes, count me in for the BBB! I would love to learn more about canning.

    Thanks!!

  118. Lynda Treen says:

    It is so sad that these idiots cannot fathom what home canning is all about!!! It is about wanting the best for our families and not the chance of contacting some contamination the industry is becoming famous for. Can on people. And garden on. You will have to take fewer stress pills if you garden. BBB please.

  119. Clarissa says:

    Thank you Billie at No Crack Cream for sponsoring today’s BBB. I would really enjoy winning a BBB 😀

  120. GrammieEarth says:

    Ohhh I would love to win one for my neighbor! She scares me. BBB please

  121. Mary Fran says:

    Home canning is a part of being independent and self-sustaining. BBB please

  122. Lindsay says:

    Eh, who cares if they don’t understand us? I don’t understand obsessions with fashion and the newest, most expensive gadgets or cars. I love canning, and for me it’s all about the process and knowing what we’re eating. Plus it links me with all these great ladies and gentlemen here who also love to preserve. Thanks for providing such a great resource, Suzanne!

    BBB please! :sun:

  123. Jessica Tibbetts says:

    I like being modish and overwrought, although I am not entirely sure what overwrought means in this application. I don’t need a BBB but would like to sponsor one. How would I go about doing that?

  124. cricketjett says:

    BBB, please!!

  125. langela says:

    Another chance to win a BBB. Count me in!

  126. Megan Duff says:

    :fairy: BBB please!

  127. Jennifer Mossman says:

    BBB Please ours is old and well used. Thank you :shimmy:

  128. Cindy says:

    Canning fresh food from your own yard – it doesn’t get any better than that! BBB me PLEASE!

  129. lavenderblue says:

    I could never understand having a garden and not canning or a least freezing the extra produce. I have had people I know tell me that they don’t bother because it is easier to buy a can of ‘whatever’. Easier, yes but fresher or tastier or more satisfying? I don’t think so. Besides the produce is already there, for goodness sake.

    BBB, please.

  130. Martha in KS says:

    “You say you want a Canvolution – well you know, you need a BBB to start…”

    Yes, please!

  131. Laura Newton says:

    please enter me in BBB.

  132. Shirley says:

    I think people are finally realizing that we may need to be able to preserve the food we eat.

    I can’t even imagine what it would be like in the winter if there weren’t jars of peas, green beans, tomatoes, pickles, jams and jellies to help us through.

  133. AnnieB says:

    Yes please – BBB!

  134. Jeanette says:

    I would love a canning book, thank you! :sheep:

  135. Jenny Sterling says:

    I would love to learn canning with this book, BBB please!

  136. CindyS says:

    I’m glad the people who can (that is, the canners themselves) understand the reasons why, at least! :hungry: (BBB, please!)

  137. Linda Gottuso says:

    I would love to have the BBB.

  138. kindigo27 says:

    Please oh please, may I win a BBB?

  139. Linda Goble says:

    pretty please pick me!!!! I will love a BBB.

  140. northcountrygirl says:

    I’d love a BBB book. BBB

  141. Melissa (N4M) says:

    BBB Please

  142. Luann says:

    BBB Please…I have been canning 30 years because the quality and flavor are superior to any mass produced canned goods!

  143. Ladychef says:

    WooHoo!!! BBB! Thanks Billie and Suzanne!

  144. LisaAJB says:

    I worry about Claussen and Heinz and more importantly, I worry about Campbell’s! BBB!

  145. Janice Jewett says:

    Please enter me for BBB/ Thanks Janice

  146. Mark Garner says:

    I would love the BBB!

  147. BeverlyC says:

    BBB please 🙂

  148. Diane says:

    This is an area in my food storage that I need help with. BBB please.

  149. Willametter Valley Girl says:

    I am not surprised that you have had so many Comments to this Blog as your loyal readers know – Canning is not a fad! It is a time honored activity that many of us, me included, learned from our mothers and grandmothers. I am proud to continue this rich heritage and thanks to you and your readers it will live on.

  150. Miz Carmen says:

    Oh… we’re horribly overwrought around here. So much so that, when we tallied up the amount of applesauce we eat in a year, (two adults, three kids), and what that would cost us retail, we decided we’d be better off purchasing a bin direct from the orchard at 30 cents a pound and putting it up ourselves. 248 quarts later (900 pounds of apples makes a LOT of sauce – we dried the other 100 pounds), we are SET for the year for $300. (It helps when you already have the jars.)

    We’re hoarders too… excpet, wait – we’re already past the half-way point on the applesauce. Obviously, we didn’t hoard enough apples. But more apples would mean we were even more overwrought…

    We’re terribly mod-ish around here too. So much so that we put up 45 pounds of pickles. We ran out three weeks ago. Our friends that helped us this year (so that they could learn how to pickle) only put up 10 pounds apiece, and they ran out by Thanksgiving. Plans are in process for 25 pickling cucumber plants this year, with the hopes of at least 150 pounds of cucumbers.

    Yes, we’re horribly outdated. We joined friends this year and pressed two bins of apples for cider (that’s a full ton of apples)… the problem is, every party and gathering and Bible study requests we bring hot or cold cider. Or both. Those old-fashioned, untrendy drinks just keep disappearing when we bring them! Obviously, we’ve missed the boat on those trendy fake lemonade mixes… except, wait – those only get drunk after the cider’s gone.

    My husband claims that I spread more of my insanity every year, as evidenced by the increased numbers at our place during canning season. I protest that I don’t corrupt anyone! I just feed them…

  151. Wendy says:

    Oh, please, please, please oet me win this book.
    Please! (BBB) 😆

    (silent appeal to the Canvolution fairies)
    :snoopy:

  152. DENNIS says:

    The best reason to home can or freeze is to preserve your garden produce

  153. M says:

    I didn’t read through all the comments, but IMHO the rise in canning jar sales isn’t only because more people are canning. More and more people are getting rid of their plastic-ware and are starting to store their flours, grains, beans, etc. in glass jars. Canning jars are inexpensive. I also think that more and more people ARE getting distrustful of processed foods, to include pickles and Heinz offerings. Were the cucumbers in the pickle jar grown from Round-Up ready seed or sprayed with pesticides? Since our country doesn’t require GMO foods to be noted on labels, more and more people are moving away from these products. It’s not a big leap from buying organics and realizing you could save a lot of $ by growing your own and then it is but a tiptoe to trying one’s hand at canning. Vote with your dollars!!!

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