A couple Sunday ago, I decided it was time to use up my last peppers from my garden. Thanks to my tupperware fridgesmarts, the life of my peppers was prolonged several weeks, until I got around to doing something with them. And thanks to my good friend Laura, who picked and froze tomatoes from my garden while I was on vacation, I had 3 bags of whole tomatoes to use. I've talked about how intimidating canning can be. I've been there. I was scared to try. Almost 5 years ago, I bought a book, called "Put 'em Up."  I took it on vacation and read it cover to cover. But still didn't start canning. It was 2 years later, when I convinced my friend Kate to come teach me, when I finally took the plunge. I didn't know what equipment I needed, how much produce, or where to start. Now that I've been canning for 3 years, I'm finding better (and faster!) ways to can and feel much more comfortable.

I found the recipe for corn salsa in my canning book. 

Half the battle of canning is gathering your supplies and preparing to can:

My tupperware power chef chopper cut the chopping time in half...

I'm not going to go into details about how to can (that's for another day and maybe a gathering!) or even the recipe for this canned corn salsa (see above picture), but I do recommend the book "Put 'em Up" for great preservation recipes and instructions. I also recommend finding someone in your life that would be willing to teach you safe and proper techniques. (AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the tupperware power chef chopper and the fridgesmarts!)Canning is not that hard, and a great way to preserve your fresh produce so you can enjoy it all winter long.

Canned salsa, pepper jam, pickles, and dilly beans make great Christmas gifts too!

Do you can or preserve?