Canning and Cracked Jars

So today was a canning day. I LOVE to can things from the garden. It probably ups my nerd factor that one of my favorite sounds is the "melody" that's heard when jars are sealing after coming out of the canner! Seriously, there was a time when NPR had this special where you could record sounds and send them in, and they would run some of them each week...I considered doing that with the canning jars, but was never quick enough to get them with the recorder.

Today on the agenda were pickled red beets with onions, dill beans, and horseradish. The beets went off without a hitch as did the beans, but when it came to horseradish, well that was a different story. I'd heard all the horror stories about canning horseradish, wear a mask, cover your eyes, open the windows....because when you grind up horseradish, it is HOT! Well, I just thought it couldn't be that bad, right? And you know what, it wasn't that bad. The roots needed scrubbed, then peeled with a vegetable peeler, which was an interesting task. After that they were chopped up, then ground in the food processor. Once they were appropriately ground, they were transferred to a bowl, where vinegar and salt were added. At this point the smell of horseradish was PRETTY strong! I had to breathe through my mouth because breathing through the nose resulted in a sinus clearing burning feeling.

After the vinegar and salt were added, I spooned the lovely white horseradish into half pint jars and prepared to put it in the canner. Of course as with any canning adventure, the jars and lids and flats had been sterilized, don't want to take any chances when doing home canning! I slid the jars down into the boiling water and heard a little pop! Oh, no....that sounded like a jar breaking! And you know what, it was....

I pulled the offending jar out and dumped its contents out...what had been four jars was down to three. This year has been the year of breaking jars for me. I think that I've been re-using the jars so much that they have gotten old and weak, and now they aren't quite as durable as they used to be. There is no way of knowing when they will break, so it's kind of a crap shoot. I know the sound well, though and can usually get them out of the canner before all their contents float away.

After dumping offending jar number one, I came into the kitchen and heard it AGAIN! Yep, another jar breaking, another dumping, and hopefully that would be the end of it. So, luckily the other two jars made it through the process, and I have two jars of horseradish for all my hard work. If you know me, you probably realize that two jars of horseradish just doesn't seem sufficient. I mean we use it for potato salad, and in some sandwich spreads we make, and there's always the need for it in Bloody Marys....can't have one without horseradish! So, I decided that I'd go out and dig up some more.

Digging it today was a great idea, because the ground is saturated from the last two days of rain. I brought it in and washed it, but couldn't face the idea of starting all over today, so it's sitting in a bucket ready for work tomorrow. That means tomorrow is blackberry jam and horseradish day. But for now, I think I'll just have a Bloody Mary!