A Fantastic Resource To Have On Hand and To Learn From

For many, many years, since I was a child, I have been either helping can food or canning it myself. It was a way for our family make ends meet and have good, organic foods on our table all year long. I took joy in making special things for my family and even enter many in our county fair and state fair winning many ribbons! Not bragging, just letting you know how much I loved to can.

These days I don't can as much as I used to, and I'll admit, I miss it! I miss the sweet jams and jellies and the skimmed foam off the top that tasted so good on a piece of toast! I miss the beautiful green beans and bright orange peaches lined up on the shelves. I miss hearing the little "ping" of the can lids as they cooled and sealed. I even miss some of our family favorites, like watermelon rind pickles, so sweet and so good, and thick, flavorful pumpkin butter!

For years canning started to wane in popularity. It was sad to me, since it was a way of life for my family. But in recent years canning has made a lovely comeback and I couldn't be happier about it. That's why I was excited to be able to review a DVD from Stonebridge Mall; Home Canning & Food Preservation Secrets.

This is a really interesting DVD that is for use on your computer only. It is made of of 31 PDF files all about canning, some of the history, tips, tricks and more. It has been fascinating to look through and read the files. In fact it has sparked the desire to can more again!

Some of the PDF files on the DVD are:

- How to can & preserve food for your family step by step and in various ways. 

- Where to find delicious recipes for balanced meals. 

- How to dry & dehydrate foods quickly, safely, and easily. 

- How to pickle foods with a step-by-step pickling process. 

- How to live more self-sustainably. 

- Uncle Sam's Advice To Housewives, a book from 1917 encouraging housewives on how to get through food shortages during WWI. A fun read for sure!

- and much, much more. 

If you have never canned foods before, this DVD will help you accomplish the basics and move on to becoming an expert. If you have canned for years you will still find useful information, special tips and tricks and learn some wonderful historic facts, as well as learning how to be prepared in the case of an emergency or disaster. 

Just think about all the money you can save for your family when you learn the "insider" tips & tricks for canning vegetables, canning tomatoes, canning salsa, canning soups, canning beets, and most-importantly, learning to can safely at home! Plus, as I mentioned, you can be prepared for a disaster, whether it be a job loss, food shortages, natural disaster and more. I'm not being an alarmist, just practical. Things happen and it's good to be prepared!


This is a fantastic resource and if you have any interest in canning food, you should get this DVD. Once you have it I would also suggest printing off some of the files so if you lose your electricity, you can still glean from the knowledge in these files!

NOTE: This is a DATA dvd (i.e. not video) and contains PDFs / other resources that need to be viewed on a computer. It will NOT play on a TV.

You can purchase your own copy of the Stonebridge Mall Home Canning & Food Preservation Secrets  DVD HERE!

The reviewer has been compensated with receiving the product free in order to bring you an honest review. All opinions are those of the reviewer.

It's Time To Start Thinking About Canning Season!

For years I have been canning food. It's one thing that has helped our family keep the food budget in check. Although I don't can as much as I used to, I still love to make some special items and keep some good basics in stock all the time.

Bellemain has a fantastic canning tool set for the beginner or expert canner.  They have put together 6 great utensils needed by anyone who cans, all in one convenient set. 

The pieces included in the set are a funnel, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, tongs, bubble popper/measuring stick and lid remover wrench. Each of the pieces is well made and light weight, which is nice since often with canning there is some heavy lifting involved.

The tongs, jar lifter and lid remover wrench have handles that are rubber coated for comfort and easier gripping. The jar lid wrench is one tool that you don't see too often when searching for canning supplies, but it is a very welcome piece to have as many times the sealed lids are very well sealed and  the rings are difficult to get off. I like that the funnel is plastic too. My old one is metal and often it got too hot to hold while I was using it.

I really like the bubble popper/measuring stick. Mine for as long as I can remember has always been a wooden spoon handle or knife. This plastic tool is the right length to fit into any size jar to make canning much easier. I love the measuring part at the end. You can accurately measure the height of the produce in the jar with it without guessing or estimating. There is 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and 1" measurements. You simply set the measurement edge in the jar rim and you can see how close your contents are to the rim of the jar for proper processing. Easy!

I haven't done any canning yet this year, but I am really looking forward to it and being able to use these tools often. Just testing them out and seeing how well they work was fun and has gotten me excited about canning again! I often canned food and gave them as gifts and I am planing on doing that again this year!

You can purchase this set of Bellemain Canning Tools HERE! 
Right now they are being sold for a phenomenal price, $9.95!! That's a tremendous deal!!

We received samples of the products for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed here are those of the author.