(lame pun intended)
...and a giveaway.
Some people love canning, and others don't see any point in it. To each his own, but this post is not intended for either of those types. This is for people who have never given canning a spin, are interested in it, but feel daunted for reasons such as cost, know-how, and time constraints.
In my opinion, canning should not be more expensive than store-bought, including ingredients, equipment and jars. If I had to can for 10 years before I started "getting in the black" after buying a ridiculously overpriced canner, I just couldn't get excited about all the work involved. So this is my low-budget, non-glamorous method, using things that you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Say it with me: SÃ, se puede! We can do it, yes we can!
Step #1: Start small, and start with something easy such as jelly/jam. This is NOT what you want to buy:

That's 20 lbs of apricots and 16 lbs of cherries. And it's the reason why I have been MIA in the blogosphere. I am getting 16 more lbs of cherries this Saturday, too. I think my fingers may be permanently stained from pitting so many cherries.
I bought these from
Bountiful Baskets for ridiculously cheap. I think the apricots were $16 and the cherries $13.
Step 2: Read the instructions and buy the ingredients
Pretty much, all you need is fruit, pectin, and sugar. The only equipment you need is jars with lids and bands, two large pots, a funnel, and tongs or a jar grabber. Also have lots of clean dish cloths on hand to keep your work surface clean.
The instructions inside the box of pectin will tell you how much fruit you need to make one batch of jam/jelly. It will also telly you of any other ingredients necessary, and about how many jars one batch will make. Go ahead and open the box of pectin at the store (yes, you are going to buy this, so please no outraged comments).
Get the necessary amount of fruit, and (if you don't have them) sugar, canning jars, and any other possible ingredients. And, don't forget to use the coupon that usually comes with the instructions when you pay for the pectin. The store I bought mine at doubles coupons up to $1.

Speaking of bulk purchases, if you are going to can a lot such as I did, buying a 25 or 50 lb bag of sugar is much more economical. I bought a 50 lb bag at Smart & Final for $18.
Step 3: Prepare the fruitFor the novice, the easiest would be to start with berry jam, because you simply wash the berries, throw them in a large pot, and mash them with a potato masher. If the berries are larger, such as strawberries, you may want to cut them into halves first.
The prep for the apricots was a little different, but I will explain it here because that's what I made, and I don't want to talk about making strawberry jam and show pictures of apricot jelly. First, I halved and pitted the apricots, and boiled them briefly in a large pot with water. Then, I strained off the apricots and put them through a food mill (this gets rid of the skins and fibery parts).
I was left with this:
Step 4: Sterilize your canning jarsBring fresh, cold water to a boil in a very large stock pot. You can experiment which of your pots fits jelly jars the best, or can hold the most.
Do not use hot tap water because it could be contaminated with buildup from your water heater.
Your canning jars should be freshly washed in a dishwasher, or in hot, soapy water BEFORE you sterilize them in the pot of boiling water. You can reuse the glass jars again and again, but always get new lids and rings, which are sold separately. When the water is boiling, put the canning jars, lids, and bands into the boiling water to sterilize.
Some people leave the jars in the hot water until they are ready to fill them. I prefer to pull them out a few minutes earlier and set them upside down on a fresh, clean dish towel that has been washed and dried on the hottest setting.
Step 5: Cooking the jamLook at the instructions in the pectin again. Usually, you add the pectin and other ingredients to the fruit puree and bring it to a boil. When you reach a point where the boiling can no longer be stirred down, you add all the sugar the recipe calls for at once, and boil for one minute sharp while stirring constantly.
Your stove should look something like this: Pot with jam cooking in the front, large pot with boiling water in the back. Do not dump out the hot water after sterilizing the jars, as you will need it to process the jam.
Step 6: Filling the jars
As soon as the jam has been at a rolling boil for one minute, pull the pot to a cold stove plate (if you don't have gas), and start filling the jars one by one. To do so, simply turn one jar over, fill with a funnel, wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth, set a lid on top, and screw the band on "finger tight" - no need to over-tighten.
Canning funnels are handy, but absolutely not necessary.

Most likely, the last jar will not be full enough to seal and process. Leave this one out until it's cooled, and then put it in the fridge for eating, just as you would with an open jar of jelly. No need to process.
Step 7: Processing the jarsAfter all jars have been filled and fitted with a lid and band, bring the water in the large stock pot back to a boil. Then gently lower the jars into the pot one by one, and process by boiling for 8-10 minutes (depending on altitude, check the instructions for this, too).
A jar grabber is a handy tool for easily lifting jars in and out of the boiling water. For years, I have made do with a large pair of tongs that came with our barbecue, and it worked pretty well. Because I was canning so much last week, I did decide to buy a "real" jar lifter after I made this first batch of jelly, but for years, I didn't have one and fared just fine.
If you had a "real" canner, it would also come with a fitting metal rack in the bottom of the pot. Again, no need for this, you can put the jars straight into the pot.
After processing for the appropriate time, pull the jars out of the water and turn upside down until cooled. This will force the remaining air in the jars to go through the boiling liquid one more time. Also, if your jelly had foam on top, this will help get rid of it.

And, voilà ! This is the first of five batches of apricot jelly I made last week. Yes, we love apricot jelly - it's a Hungarian thing. It tastes great on white French bread, or on palacsinta (our version of crêpes). Our family goes through one of these jars at breakfast.
It's easy, really. I made this batch on a Sunday morning in less than one hour while also getting the two girls ready for church and making the church bulletin. I made the other four batches in one night after the kids were in bed in about two hours. But, like I said, start small.
Finally, if you have read to the end of this long (and, if you're not into canning, boring) post, I think you deserve a treat. To enter, simply leave a comment (anyonymous or otherwise) that has in some way to do with jelly or canning. If you hate both, you could just say that, but then again why would you want to enter a jelly giveaway?
I will randomly pick two winners and send them a jar of my apricot jelly. This would be one of the big jars I made, which are twice the size of the ones in the pictures above. It would be enough to go around generoulsy even in a large family. In the unlikely event that a whole bunch of people leave a comment, I will give away more jars than just two, we'll have to see about that. If less than two people comment, it means that at least I will get to eat more jelly.
Deadline is midnight one week from today, June 26th. Thanks for reading my boring drivel. Recent photos of our many summer activities coming just as soon as I can get more caught up with housework. Hahahahahahahahaha..... [insert crazy laugh here].