Hi Amanda - the shortest and simplest answer to your question is no, it cannot be safely canned for several reasons. The many reasons why are discussed in the many previous discussions here about this particular soup and I linked one of them below. The primary reason for the no is that the #1 guideline in the standard safe canning guidelines is that you cannot safely can personal/family recipes as they have never been tested for either pH or density or shelf-storage safety. Of course you always have the option of not following the guidelines and doing it at your own risk. Some do and assume that it will be sufficiently well cooked AFTER opening the jars to reduce the risk further. It all depends on your comfort level. There is no question that it would have to be pressure canned. BWB canning would never be an option as it is low-acid vegetables. The question is for how long it would need to be processed for and what the results, the quality, would be. There is also no debate over the pureeing - not done. Also the bacon would have to be left out and the jars would have to follow the soup rule - 1/2 solids and 1/2 liquids. Potato leek soup freezes very well and that is the recommended way to preserve it. Sorry as I know it isn't what you want to hear. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Potato-Leek soup

I was very good at spelling when I was younger, others would ask me how to spell words, but alas, I am 71 and am losing my spelling ability. Sometimes the spell checker can't even find a close match. LOL

We've found a solution to the problem. We're keeping the existing door (undamaged) and the window contracting company is repairing the minor rot damage on the jam. It's the most cost effective solution and won't delay interior or exterior work. Quite happy about this! Here's what I wrote on my thread in the kitchen forum: After much discussion and research, we're keeping the existing kitchen door and addressing the jam rot only. I talked to a supplier about purchasing a custom made new rot resistant jam for the TT door (their old doors were an inch taller than all other brands). And then I talked to the owner of the window contracting company who suggested that since the rot was minimal, another option was to remove the affected wood, fill with epoxy and sand it smooth. Once painted, we'll never know that it was damaged and there would be no reason for further damage to occur (the leak that caused the rot happened years ago and has since been addressed). This is a cost effective solution that won't delay the exterior or interior work so we're quite happy about it. This company has an excellent rep (BBB, contractor's board, Angie's List, Yelp, etc, plus two suppliers told us that, hands down, this is *the* company to work with. Their work is excellent). They are conscientious about making sure that all installs are to code and won't cause water issues down the road. The amount of flashing, wrapping, etc that they are adding to our windows and doors is more than twice what our initial install had 21 yrs ago. You should have heard them mumbling about how poorly the house was flashed and how amazed they are that they haven't uncovered any dry rot (so thankful for that but it could have been a different story if we hadn't replaced the failed LP siding when we did.). Thanks to everyone who helped me figure this out!

Thank you all for taking the time to consider my dilemma. I really appreciate it. Artistsharonva, I know it's hard to imagine that anyone can cook in an aisle that narrow, but we do it in NYC all the time. Here's the floorplan of the room, with the old galley kitchen we're ripping out. It will go right back into this footprint, but we'll annex the back wall of what's now the dining area. The kitchen and dining are on a raised platform that I've indicated with the dotted blue line. I'm not worried about the dimensions of the aisle. I've been cooking in this kitchen for four years now. The new design will at least be better than that: Herbflavor, the sink can't be moved. Given this, I don't think moving the pantries to that wall will help. I'd rather keep them flanking the fridge. Dan1888, the board won't even consider it, and I can't blame them. Since the gas explosion last year, any NYC building that touches a gas line these days has to be stress tested - and almost all prewar buildings will fail. I know a Brooklyn co-op that had to replace a hot water heater last March, their building failed the stress test, and everyone was without hot water until September while they tango'd with the conflicting demands of various inspectors. Mamagoose, I like the idea of the sink there and turning this galley into a U, however the water and waste pipes can't be relocated there. And there's an exposed steam pipe and a gas pipe that can't be touched where the dishwasher would be. I think I'm stuck with this: Instead of a wall of tile, I'm considering a curved marble backsplash right behind the sink. I'm not a fan of open shelves, but I have enough storage given all the wall cabinets on the opposite side. What I'm having trouble visualizing is the countertop material. Because of the proximity, do the two sides have to have the same material? If I want marble on the cooktop counter and backsplash, can I have white quartz on the sink counter? Thoughts, anyone?