Preserving summer - hot pickled green beans

We had got into a bit of canning frenzy on the Labour day weekend and looking for more things to can. We decided to do some hot pickled green beans, as Nancy's husband really likes them, and the local market had some wonderful fresh green and purple beans.

We decided to add some carrot as well for colour.  We had cooked some of the purple beans the night before and rather disappointingly they had turned green when cooked, so we were interested to see what happened when pickling them.

This is what happened they went a mottled half green half purple not the lovely vibrant purple they were before but I can attest that after the requisite week of pickling they tasted wonderful.



I topped and tailed the beans and cut them all to about the same length 1/4" shorter than the jar that we were canning them in. I then peeled a couple of carrots and cut them into sticks about the same length.

I then put the vegetables a sprig of dill and 2 teaspoons of chili flakes in to each of the 4 jars.

Meanwhile Nancy was preparing the pickling brine she combined the following in a large pot


1/4 cup Salt
2 1/2 cups White Vinegar
2 1/2 cups Water
4 cloves Garlic

She simmered this for about 5 minutes and then removed the garlic cloves and poured over the beans.

We then put them in a canner for 10 minutes to seal the jar. As we were preserving in vinegar and salt there is not the need to process as long as other vegetables such as tomatoes. Then outside for the beauty shots.

At the end of the 3 day weekend look at the larder at Pender Harbour.

And I also packed home more of everything, so my larder, though not as beautiful as this one, as it is a combined laundry room in the basement, also looks wonderful.

Nancy and I thoroughly enjoyed all this canning and felt very fulfilled with our stocking for the winter. Though we both said how different this would be if it was a necessity, and how hard those women on the prairies must have worked in order to have food to eat in the middle of winter. Though I have sworn to not buy any canned tomatoes this winter and will be relying on the lbs and lbs of tomatoes I have processed, I will be buying fresh ones for salads and fresh green vegetables in January neither of which were an option for those women at the turn of the centery.