Nostalgic memories- Canning party

Growing up the above picture is a lot like how our pantry looked. We had rows and rows of many varieties of canned goodies. I told you, I did not grow up eating much fast food. I honestly don't remember eating at McDonald's until I was in 11th grade. However, my mom loved some Kentucky Fried Chicken~ I don't think she considered that fast food. Remember the big red and white buckets?? I grew up in Western Pennsylvania where my father was a pastor. We had many members in our church who owned farms. My most vivid memories are of Mother Dyer who baked us 3 pies a week and gave us loads and loads of wonderful canned products. Why is canning not as popular today as then??
I think those who are joining in the trend of canning today do it either because they want to preserve the flavor of food picked in season or they are concerned about what goes into their food and want to control the additives and chemicals or ingredients like high-fructose syrup!
If you have never canned before it could be a little scary due to the health risk if done improperly. However, it really isn't that hard!! Just arm yourself with the proper tools and how about a canning party???

It may seem like a lot of work, not if you share the load!! So grab your girlfriends and tell them to pick out a recipe and bring all supplies needed for it as well. It's best if you assign a food category that way your not all doing strawberry jam. Go here for tons of recipes and how to's.
Your party will be filled full of slicing, dicing, peeling, cooking, eating, talking, laughing and reminiscing. In the end you will have a variety of canned goods to share with each other.
Keep decor simple since the main objected is to "put up" food. However, one must have decor, right?? How about flowers in beautiful cans. LOVE!

You can find an awesome tutorial on Canning 101 and strawberry jam on The Pioneer Woman here. I just love her!!

There are all sorts of free downloadable labels here are some cute ones.

Another great website to check out is http://www.canningacrossamerica.com/

I hope you are enjoying this week of nostalgic memories turned into parties??