Canning, what's the worst that can happen?

Well, it's Saturday night, already, and I find my craft list growing, yet again.

Next weekend I'm going to be attempting to can for the first time and I have located 3 amazing recipes that I'm ready to try.

Cran-Raspberry Jam
Pumpkin Butter
Caramel Apple Jam

Now, these are all very fall recipes with our family Thanksgiving as mind (I like to give gifts, like a lot!) so I will be making half pints for roughly 5 people with these recipes. I'm going to be doing them up all pretty and J is going to be helping me make labels for them when I get to her house.

When it comes to canning, there are several things you need in order to even attempt canning at home.
They are:

A Jar Lifter

A Canning Funnel

An Enamel Pot (any pot will do)

Mason Jars 

(I tend to prefer Ball Jars, especially the quilted one because they feel more vintage in my mind!)

Now from everything I've read about canning, experimentation is amazing, which is great if you're a crafter but you need to remember the essentials, which means, generally you need pectin in order to jam, unless you're using a fruit that's high in pectin (such as apples). You also need to sterilize your jars before you use them! Or you could be canning bacteria in with your wonderful jam and that wouldn't be good for you or the jam! And lastly, you must boil your jars of jam for at least 5 minutes after filling in order to activate the vacuum seal.

There are honestly many great websites about canning with both instructions and recipes, so get our there and try. It's a great skill and an amazing way to home make gifts for the ones you love.