Our Book Review of From Seed to Table by the Canning Diva

Diane Devereaux's (aka, the Canning Diva®) latest book, From Seed to Table, is not your average canning book. It's also a tremendous resource for those who value self reliance, sustainability and food security. It’s a handy asset for anyone who wants to grow AND preserve their own garden harvest. You'lI get more than just canning recipes, folks! You'll read about starting a garden and how to harvest from it. There are old-time skills such as rendering lard and seed saving too. I'll give a deep dive review of a book that I believe will be a valuable addition to your library.

Read our full review of From Seed to Table on CanningCrafts.com.

Need canning recipes? We got 'em! Go to our website CanningCrafts.com for jam, jelly, chutney, & veggie recipes, oh my!

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2025: The Year I Tried Pressure Canning (And Liked It!)

This was the year I looked at my canning shelves and said "Where's the Beef? And Chicken? And Pork? And Soup?" You get the picture. I ramped up my canning repertoire and made the leap off the high-dive into the pressure canning pool. Read My 2025 Canning Journal blog-post to learn about my quest for new ready made dinners and maybe some inspiration for your own.

Some of my new favorite meals to can are beef stroganoff, pork fajitas, and taco soup! These canned goods are the original "fast food" for busy work nights or quick and easy lunches. And they give me another way to use some of my garden produce, namely my overabundant tomatoes. WOOT!

Check out My 2025 Canning Journal post on CanningCrafts.com.

Need canning recipes? We got 'em! Go to our website CanningCrafts.com for jam, jelly, chutney, & veggie recipes, oh my!

Shop our Classic Canning Jar Labels, Color Mix Canning Jar Labels, Rectangle Canning Jar Labels & Canning Jar Labels on CanningCrafts.com

Wild Violet Jelly Recipe: Foraged Edible Flowers Taste Great!

Our backyard was overflowing with violets, so I thought I would try this awesome Violet Jelly recipe from Bakers Brigade. Of course I'd heard of Dandelion Jelly, but I hadn't seen a recipe for Violet Jelly before.  

I was really interested in the "magical color change" this food blogger spoke about. After collecting violets in a jar, you pour boiling water onto them. Then let the jar sit overnight to infuse and create a lovely sapphire blue "tea". When you strain out the flowers and add lemon juice, the dark blue tea turns purple. WOW! Just take a look at Bakers Brigade's cool color changing video or our time-lapse video.

 

The resulting jelly is very sweet with a subtle floral taste. And the color is simply amazing! Who knew flowers could taste so good? If you have an abundance of these beautiful purple flowers in your yard, go pick them now! Violets are unlike dandelions, they won't last all season in your yard. Wild violets are typically found May through June in most areas (zones 3 through 9).

 

If you don't want to make jelly, you'll be happy to know there are plenty of other violet recipes to try. 

Violet Recipes:

• Sweet Violet Syrup
• Candied Violets
• Violet Sugar
• Violet Jam
• Violet Jelly
• Violet Muffins with Violet Sugar
• Violet Vinegar
• Violet Salad
• Violet Leaf Tea

Nutritional Benefits of Wild Violets:

So why eat violets? Well, they have fantastic health benefits much like dandelions. According to The Herbal Academy, violets have been used to treat:

• coughing and bronchitis
• colds and sore throats
• cystitis
• rheumatic complaints, reduce inflammation
• eczema
• psoriasis
• acne
• cradle cap for babies
• and even cancer!

Violets have ample Vitamin C and A as well as other vitamins and minerals. Violet leaves are also sold as a supplement. 

 

Harvesting Wild Violets:

There are 40-50 violet species in the US according to The Herbal Academy. Here's another handy website to help identify violet species. The medicinal properties of most wild violet species are interchangeable. They are NOT to be confused with the African Violet houseplant which will make you sick if eaten. Wild violets are typically found May through June in most areas (zones 3 through 9). Much like foraging for other edibles, be sure to harvest in areas free of pesticides. Avoid flowers in yards where pets may go to the bathroom as well. Harvest flowers and use fresh soon after picking or dry for later use.

 

Our Cottage Chic Flower canning labels look great on any flower jam or jelly jars!

Have you ever made Violet Jelly or other flower recipes? If so, we'd love to hear about your foraging & cooking experiences in the comments blow.

My first batch of salsa for the year!

We were running drastically low on salsa! I canned about 45 pints and several quarts back in 2013, but my husband is a voracious Salsasorus. He would've run out of stock within a year if he hadn't periodically interspersed store bought salsa throughout this past year.

My sister supplied me with a bunch of hothouse tomatoes and peppers, so I whipped out my salsa recipe and got to work. Of course my preference would be to use homegrown tomatoes from my garden, most likely Romas or Amish Paste tomatoes, but free tomatoes are hard to pass up for salsa. If I was only going to eat the tomatoes and not make salsa, I would've passed on the hothouse variety because they're hard, too perfect looking (which weirds me out), and often flavorless. But once you mix enough tomato paste and seasonings to the salsa, it's not that bad!

So did my salsa actually win an award? No, but that's what the label says, so people will believe it. But it is actually the best salsa recipe I ever tried, and I've tried many recipes. This recipe came from my husband's relative and is made by many people in his family now.

Award Winning Canning Jar Labels can be customized with your own text 

28 pints, 1 quarts, and 1 very happy husband. Yippie!
The Custom Kraft Paper canning labels look good on salsa :)

Download this chart to keep track of the produce that you can this year!

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