Keep on Canning (plus a giveaway)!

A few summers ago, I got it in my head that I should start making jam. So I did. I bought a flat of raspberries from Seedling at the Green City Market, a few boxes of pectin, some jars and then I made some raspberry jam.

This jam was so tasty that I decided to give away all of the jars that I had made and then make some more.

This raspberry jam ritual has become a fun part of summer for our family. I make jam. I give my jam away to people who seem interested. They eat up all of of their jam and return the empty jars to me (I assume in the hopes that I will fill them up with jam again).

In case I haven't made it clear yet, I really, really like to make raspberry jam. But that is the extent of my canning experience. I am stuck on raspberry jam.

This summer, I plan to expand my horizons. When I learned that August 13 is National Can-It-Forward Day, I felt inspired to take my canning to the next level -- tomatoes! I am going to can salsa, sauce and just plain old tomatoes.

Jarden Home Brands, makers of the classic Ball and Mason jars, has teamed up with Canning Across America to sponsor Can-It-Forward Day (this day-long celebration will feature home canning parties, local events and online instructional canning videos and cooking demos).

If all of this talk about canning (and yummy, yummy jam) has you thinking about giving canning a try, I have a fabulous opportunity to share with you. The truth is that canning requires just a few simple tools (but you do need to carefully follow the instructions in order to ensure that your food is properly preserved). The maker of Ball jars makes a Canning Discovery Kit that gives first-timers easy-to-follow recipes and the basic tools to get started. Ball sent me one of these kits to try and I've really enjoyed the contents (again, see photo of raspberry jam above).

Ball has generously offered me one Canning Discovery Kit to give away to one of you. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (be sure to leave your name and contact info so I can find you if you win!). You get another entry if you share this post via Twitter or Facebook (just leave a comment letting me know that you did that too). All comments must be received by Wednesday, August 17 at midnight. I will select a winner using random.org and contact that lucky individual next week.