I Was Canning "CANDY" The Other Day!

Preserving your 'Candy Bounty' from Halloween...

Yes, if you look really hard, you can see a lot of treats in these canning jars. That is by design.  I went to the big box store early in the morning on November 1 and found lots of Halloween candy on sale for 50% off. There was a bit of a mob picking through all the candy. One lady complained about another customer who came in and 'took 200 bags of chocolate candy'.  I thought that he was pretty savvy myself.  Anyway, I digress...I actually bought lots of different kinds of candy during that shopping trip.

I decided to help preserve it....for posterity. I really mean that.  Rooster Senior thinks candy is another food group...I keep waiting for the Doctor to give him 'what for' because of all the candy and soda he consumes. However, they keep telling him he is just as healthy as can be.  

I decided to can different candies in pint jars....so that when we did get into them....there wouldn't be mounds of candy to consume quickly all at once.  I did this because vacuum sealing helps keep chocolate from getting white, and helps keep things like taffy and licorice stay soft.

It is important that all the edges of the packaging do not interfere with the seal.

I turned all the edges under before placing the lid on it.

I sealed the candies in both wide-mouth and regular-mouth jars.

Now, why would I do all this?  Well, for several reasons:

• It think it is important to have known comfort foods in your storage.  Not only is it fun, but it really can be comforting in times of stress
• I do this when candies are on sale and save money.
• I have treats for when little ones come to visit.
• I hopefully can keep the little ones from raiding Grandpa's stash without permission....because this secret stash really is not so secret!

Try it!