Ball Blue Book photo via amazon.com

If you are thinking about canning tomatoes, pickles, or sauerkraut like me, this is what you’ll need to get started:
Jarden Home Brands 21400 Ball Blue Book – This is the best canning book around and has a nice little section on dehydrating, too. I read a ton of canning books recently, but none of them beat this classic for clear and easy canning instructions.

Granite Ware 21-1/2-Quart Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner with Rack – This is the medium size canner. I am doing quart size canning, so it is the right one for me. Now, to find a spot to store it… Mine says it is made in the USA, which is nice to see.

Ball Wide-Mouth Mason Canning Jar 1 Qt., Case of 12 – Try to find these in a store near you. I got a set of 12 wide mouth quart jars for $10.99 at my store.

Professional Candy & Deep Fry Thermometer – You need a thermometer to make sure the water gets hot enough when you are sterilizing and canning. This is the type I got and the type the Ball Blue Book recommended.

Norpro Stainless Steel Wide-Mouth Funnel – It is so much easier to neatly fill jars with a funnel. The plastic ones can melt, so go for stainless steel. If you don’t have a funnel, be sure you really take time to wipe off the jar’s mouth to remove any spilled food before you put the lid on.

Norpro 600 Jar Lifter – I paid a bit more for my jar lifter. This is a really good deal.

Back to Basics 174 Magnetic Lid Lifter – I still need this. It wasn’t in stock at my hardware store. I’m doing without it for now and will just fish the lids out with a fork or something.

On to the quail eggs.

So far, so good. They’re uncracked, warm and have been turned every day. Fingers crossed that we get a decent hatch. My sister said I should set up the web cam so everyone could see them, but they don’t do anything but sit there all day. Would you want to stare at unmoving eggs for a few weeks? If you would, I can try to hook it up.

And the Apple Peeler?

Well, someone has been begging for one for quite awhile. We came across it in the hardware store today and shamelessly splurged on it. It was worth every penny to see the delight on his face as the apple peel unfurled and perfect apple slices came off the end of the peeler. I’d recommend getting the one that bolts on, though. The suction cup bottom doesn’t work on the table. We had to put it on the counter to get it to stick. I was pretty happy to see that I can use it to make hash browns and peel potatoes, too.