Canning Cherries

Don't you just love summer? All the yummy fruit that is in season? It's the perfect time for canning. This week my mother-in-law got a deal on cherries from her dad's wife. I don't typically like canned cherries, but I've been on a food storage kick and thought they would be good to have on hand. Cherries are one of the easier fruits to can--just de-stem, wash and load. And of course it was a good opportunity to get the kids to help and learn how to can. They are willing helpers if I promise that they can eat cherries while working.
Here they are de-stemming

Here's Braedi loading the cherries into the jars
Here are the jars going into the canner. The first time I put them in the canner the jars were floating and I was worried that they wouldn't seal because they are supposed to be under water. I re-read the directions and realized that I didn't put enough water in the jars. I only read the first and second steps that said put in 1/2 cup water then add the cherries. I didn't read the third part that said fill the jar with hot water. We had to pull the jars back out and add more water.
And here are the jars all sealed. They just need to be cleaned and stored. We even had a few cherries left over to eat fresh.