National Can-It-Forward Day + Ball Canning Giveaway

*The contest has ended – congrats to Jaclyn for winning! Enjoy your canning kit!*

Ball are my favorite mason jars in the entire world.   They are probably your favorite too.  You see the jars all over my recipes, you see them all over my house. The truth is I have a entire shelf dedicated to mason jars. I get so excited when I get a new one.  Each jar might even have a name, I might or might not be kidding.   Leave it to Ball to create the great holiday of National Can-It-Forward Day!  That’s today!  Happy National Can-It-Forward Day everyone!   National Can-It-Forward Day lets everyone share the joy of fresh preserving. Whether you’re new to canning, a Master Canner, or curious to see else you can make with Ball jars,  they have recipes and tips and tricks to help make fresh preserving easy, fun, and creative!  Keep reading because there’s a giveaway for a Ball Canning Discovery  Kit below!

(My favorite half sour pickles!)

If you have a garden then you know how important it is to preserve.   You just grew those tomatoes that took months of love, running trips to the garden in pouring down rain to protect them, and hours of pruning, supporting and picking your tomatoes.  Your goal: Don’t  let one tomato go bad.   Trust me, I know the feeling of picking so many pounds of vegetables in a week that although very exciting,  is also very frightening. What are you going to do with all these fresh and beautiful vegetables that you took care of?  We’re going to preserve it so we can enjoy these tomatoes until next harvest. Fresh spaghetti sauce in December? Sure!  Salsa in January? Sure!  Stewed tomatoes in March? Yes!   Salsas, Jellies, Sauces, Chutneys, Pie Fillings – you can preserve all of this to make your garden seem like it lasts all year!

Canning.   If I had a nickle for every time said they were scared to can, I would have alot of nickles.    There are  2  types of canning, Waterbath Canning and Pressure Canning.  Waterbath Canning can be used to preserve everything I listed above and it’s great for beginners.   Pressure Canning is more advanced and can be used to preserve meats, poultry, vegetables, chili, fish and other low acid foods. My friend sent me a pressure canner as a gift and honestly I was terrified of it   I’m pretty sure she sent it to me because she was terrified of it too.  How many generations before her? I bet this canner is hundreds of years old!  I was told too many stories from Grandmas that said I would lose a eye. I didn’t want to lose a eye.  I have blue eyes, which is becoming rare, only 8% of the world’s population have blue eyes.    Guys, I didn’t lose a eye.  

Waterbath canning is where the magic is at.   There is no need to be scared to waterbath can, it’s easy and you can do it!  It has 3 steps, Prep, Pick, Preserve.  Who doesn’t love the letter P? Who doesn’t love alliteration?    

A leader in home canning, the Ball brand canning has been making fresh preserving products for over 125 years.  To teach cooks the simplicity of canning, Ball brand canning is hosting the third annual National Can-It-Forward Day on Saturday, August 17 (that’s today!).  National Can-It-Forward Day allows home cooks to connect via a national circuit of canning parties and social media activities. New and experienced canners can participate in a live webcast of canning demos where viewer questions will be answered in real-time.  This year renowned chef and Food Network star Ted Allen will be live on site demoing his favorite canning recipes for viewers!   You can find information about how to participate in Can-It-Forward Day at www.FreshPreserving.com. Canners can also join the conversation on 8/17 via Twitter using the hashtag #canitforward.

Please head over to  www.freshpreserving.com to watch the live canning webcast.  I will be tuned in all day to this!   So what are you waiting for? Let’s can it forward! 

The broadcast will begin on Saturday, August 17th at 10am EDT. 
10:00am-10:45am: Jam making and water bath canning demo by Jessica Piper 
10:45am-11:00am: Craft Corner with Jordan DeFrank 
11:00am-11:45am: Pickles Demo by Rick Fields  
11:45am-12:00pm: Craft Corner with Jordan DeFrank 
12:00pm-1:00pm: Special Guest Host Ted Allen canning and cooking demo 
1:00pm-1:15pm: Cocktails in Ball Jars hosted by Mason Jar NYC Restaurant 
1:15pm-2:00pm: Jam making and water bath canning demo by Jessica Piper 

One lucky reader will receive Ball’s Canning Discovery Kit which is designed to demystify the home canning process and make fresh preserving accessible for even the most novice canner. You’ll also receive some other getting started items!  How awesome is that?  

To enter:

Leave a comment below telling me what you’d like to can.
Leave a comment below telling me you liked Brooklyn Farm Girl on Facebook. 
Leave a comment below telling me you follow Brooklyn Farm Girl on Twitter.

That means you can enter 3 times if you do all 3 – amazing! Make sure to leave a separate comment for each one! 
Giveaway is only open to US residents.  Contest ends  Monday August 26th, 2013.