Canning Season

This is my second year of trying to preserve the tasty fruit and veg that we have such an abundance of at this time of year. It’s the kind of thing, you do a little bit, and you are addicted and you want to continue… What else can I preserve, and how else can I preserve..? I started late into the season last year, and by Christmas we were out of a lot of things, and I was wishing I had made more. So, this year, I was determined to start as early as possible, at times it’s seems like the produce in the fridge is never ending and I will never be able to get through it all… But surprisingly, once you have your own little routine, you can get through a fair bit in no time.

The shelf in the basement is now filling up, so far, pickled beets, carrots and beans, dill pickles, rhubarb raspberry jam, raspberry jam, raspberry tayberry jam, Saskatoon jam, marmalade (made with frozen Seville oranges from the winter), and apricot jam. I have also been freezing the beans from the garden after preparing them and blanching them, and am so excited to have that flavour into the fall. With the growing season being so short, we have a glut of fruit and veg in July and August, and slowly things start to tapper off, quickly we forget the delicious flavours of the summer.

I have more preserving to do, and although sometimes I feel overwhelmed by what I have to do, I look at the shelf in the basement, and it is so satisfying, as Darina says, they are “good deeds sitting on a shelf,” and that they are. My sister in law gets satisfaction out of going down and picking the next flavour of jam for their fridge, or canned fruit for the kids to have for dessert etc, and my brother, Scott loves to go down and go through the shelf to take his friends different things. At least they are getting used!

Preserving is something that went out of fashion, once the convenience of store bought preserves came in, but make your own, and you’ll be hooked. The flavour is much better, of course, and there is just something about eating something you have made, it simply tastes better. I had poached some peaches a couple of nights ago, and served them with homemade vanilla ice cream and praline, and everyone was asking what I had done to the peaches, and I said, “it’s basically just canned peaches.” The response, “but the flavour, they aren’t slimy….” We had peaches well into the winter last year, and they really are a tasty treat with yoghurt or ice cream.

It can seem overwhelming when you read about canning online, but go with your gut, you’ll know down the road of something has gone wrong, use a tried and true recipe, and you’ll be fine, it really is simple. Once you’ve done one or two things, you will find your own little system that works for you – and you’ll be a pro. I have an old Better Homes cookbook that was my grandma’s and I love to go through it and read all about preserving and canning, there is a pile of information in there, and added to that are her hand written recipes for her favourite recipes. Really wanting to make her crab apple jelly, if anyone has crab apples they won’t be using, let me know!

My brother’s friend’s dad has been smoking fish for years, he smoked me some salmon, and it was delish, I went over yesterday and he shared his secret brine recipe with me, and is smoking me two pieces of salmon today, I can’t wait to have it in my fridge, and try his recipe on a few different types of fish. Smoked salmon pate anyone?

As I’ve mentioned, I have been trying to put some ideas together for a small business, The Ruby Apron is slowly coming together, pop over to Facebook and see what’s going on. www.facebook.com/therubyapronedmonton. I am in the process of finalizing a few things, and am hoping to have the website and business up and running soon. Check back for more information!

“I love the smell of chutneys and marmalades bubbling on the stove. You can’t help feeling a glow of satisfaction every time you look into a well-stocked pantry and see your bottles and jam jars lined up on the shelf like good deeds. It also means you have a ready supply of terrific gifts to take along to a dinner party – much more welcome than a cheap bottle of wine.” – Darina Allen