Canning Excitement!

So I have never been much of a caner. I remember watching my grandmother canning pickles and relishes when I was really little, but the love of canning was never really sparked in me. Well that was until this weekend!

My grandmother gave me about 8 grocery bags of vegetables from the farm near her home -- an me not wanting to waste any of them decided that I should ask for her beloved pickle and relish recipes.... and to my surprise she gave me them!

So today I embarked on my first pickle making adventure! I cannot share the excitement that came from hearing the jars "pop" as they sealed! It was great!

The came out looking like I remember.... lets hope they take like I remember!! The other jar had dehydrated summer squash in it. Again, not wanting to waste the bag of summer squash, way more than my family will eat right now, so I went on a quest to find the best way to preserve it. The best I found was to dehydrate it. And I hydrated some today and put into my taco meat for dinner and I couldn't tell the difference between the fresh and the hydrated! So at least now I feel like I am helping out, in ever the smallest way, with my mom's family food storage.

Tomorrow I am making Piccalilli -- which is like a green tomato relish -- and canning that to add to the food storage as well.

Here's hoping it all tastes good!!