I read the “Little House on the Prairie” books when I was a
child. I always wanted to be like Laura
Ingalls Wilder and make jellies and jams and can my own produce. My grandmother gave me my first taste of
homemade apple butter and helped me make a batch of prickly pear jelly. I knew of no one besides my grandmother who canned
food.
Living on my own meant that I really couldn't take advantage
of the really good sale prices on produce.
I didn't have room in my fridge or freezer to store extra food or have
the knowledge to preserve it. And I didn't
want to spend the money on all of the items needed and possibly mess up the
process. Living in the city also
prevented growing a garden.
And then I moved to Tehachapi. Kevin told me about his gardens and what was
in them and how everything was growing. My mother-in -law-to-be has books on canning
and was more than happy to teach me what she knows.
So now, I have come to love when produce is on sale. In September, corn was only 16 cents an ear
and we bought 72 ears. In one night,
Kevin and I blanched the ears, cut off the kernels, and vacuum sealed it to
enjoy later this winter. The harvest
from plum trees in the back yard became plum preserves. The half bushel of apples from the local
orchard didn't just get baked into breads and eaten fresh. I made apple butter on my own.
So with winter creeping on us here in the mountains, our gardens
had to be put to bed. Ten pounds of
green tomatoes became 10 quarts of pickles.
We also got several bushels of apples so Kevin and Lee can make applejack. Many of those apples have already become
apple butter and on Wednesday, many more will be preserved in those beautiful
pint jars.
But there are foods I don’t care for that can be canned and
I canned one of them today. Jalapenos,
yuck! We had a produce bag of them in
the fridge and they were starting to get moldy.
So I pulled out the good ones and sliced them up along with a bunch of
carrots. I boiled some vinegar with
water, salt, peppercorns, and a little of honey. In went the jalapenos and carrots and
instantly I started sneezing. And sneezing. And sneezing.
I couldn't stop in the middle of the process so I had to pour the veggie
and brine mixture while sneezing. Only
after I put the jar into the canner and dumped out the extra brine did I stop
sneezing.
So even though I love canning food, I don’t think I can make
pickled jalapenos and carrots again.
Even though Kevin said they tasted good and is sure to ask for more. Unless someone has a gas mask I can borrow
when I make them again?
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