I had a memory-making Thanksgiving weekend including seeing a great-grandson for the first time (great #16, 14 boys, 2 girls) and then turkey with son Mark and family.
“Turkey,” of course, implies “turkey carcass,” which can translate into “turkey bone-broth.” I collected the remains of seven turkeys from friends (skin, necks and any bones that haven’t been chewed on) and proceeded. The end result was a quart and a pint of nourishing broth from each one – a quart for me and a pint for the carcass donor, and two quarts of turkey tidbits.
While in that process a friend brought me some venison. I ended up with 25 quarts total including four of venison backstraps, three ground, three trail bologna and six of hot dogs – and all 25 sealed!
Canning takes me back to when Elaine taught me how to use a pressure canner. She was a “by the book” kind of person in general but I sometimes indulge in the freedom to be creative and to explore the boundaries. After all, there might be a better way.
So, one of the provoking aspects of pressure canning is to wait until the pressure was all (ALL) the way down before taking the weighted thing off. “I mean – what could it hurt to take it off and let the steam and pressure escape more quickly so you can keep things going?”
Some of you know that I drew the liquid out of the jars and had quite a mess to clean up. At least it wasn’t as bad as a guy friend who has the same propensities about the book. He took the weight off so soon that the pressure drop actually sucked the sides of some of the jars in and broke them. He and I both now go by the book on that one!
You can shake your head at my ignorance and arrogance, but this is precisely how we often respond to “The Book” that tells us the Way of Life. We’ve been doing it ever since Adam and Eve believed The Lie, and we just keep on doing it even though it makes messes and doesn’t produce the Life that our souls long for – because it can’t – because the Rule Maker and Book Author made it so. We must come to Him like a child, humble, teachable and trusting.
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
December 3, 2025
PDF at: www.10minas.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/25-34.pdf