Happy New Year - Classes, Classes and Lots of Sauerkraut - Weekly Email

Greetings and Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and new year!

Did you notice that food preservation was actually represented on one of the Rose Parade floats this year?

Discover's float, "A State Fair to Remember," represented many of the activities of a state fair; rides, pie-eating contests, and livestock judging. They also had some award-winning pies and preserves made from flowers. On the right side of the float, just behind the pies, is a blue-ribbon jar of preserves, which is mostly blocking a view of some canned pickles:
http://discoveratroseparade.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/img_7181x10.jpg

I was pretty excited about that. But then, I get excited about food preservation fairly easily.

Speaking of state and county fairs, it is never too early to start canning and making preserves for the LA County Fair ... don't wait until the last minute ... start making some of those marmalades, pickles and jellies now from in-season fruit. This year's forms aren't up yet, but they probably won't change all that much from last year's. Check out the rules for all their culinary contests here:
http://www.lacountyfair.com/2011/entertainment/Competition_CulinaryStyles.asp

I'm hoping to be involved in the judging this year.

Of course, maybe you want to learn a little more about canning before entering a contest. In that case, I've got several classes coming up.

This Saturday, the 15th, I will be teaching a class on pickling basics at the Farmer's Kitchen in Hollywood from 9am-1pm:

Sour, crunchy, spicy, tart, sweet, and aromatic, pickles bring exciting seasoning, piquancy, nutrition and interest to our meals. They are a flavor counterpoint; harmonically interdependent with the aroma and taste of the main elements of a dish. Eating would be much less interesting without pickles, chutneys, relishes, salsas and other such condiments. Of course, pickling is not only a means of creating flavor, but also of preserving food.

Learn food safety and pickle basics in this small, hands-on class featuring recipes using fresh food from the farmer's market.

Space is limited. Participants will take home one or more jars of what we preserve.

Cost: $75.00 (pay when you arrive)

Registration deadline is 1/14/2011 8:00 p.m..

You can register here:
http://www.hollywoodfarmerskitchen.org/events/event-info?event_id=4094

The Saturday after next, on the 22nd from 11am-2pm, I will be teaching a class on citrus and marmalades at Delilah Snell's Road Less Traveled Store in Santa Ana.

Learn about some of the more obscure citrus available to us in California (yuzu, calamansi, and buddha's hand, among others) and a couple of techniques for turning them into delicious marmalade.

Cost: $50.00

You can register here:
http://roadlesstraveledstore.com/shop/product.php?productid=16399&cat=263&page=1

On February 5th, I will be teaching a class on fermentation (yogurt, vinegar and kombucha) at the Road Less Traveled Store and on February 12th, I'll be doing another hands-on workshop at the Farmer's Kitchen in Hollywood in anticipation of Valentine's Day "Food Preservation for Your Sweetheart." More information on those classes in a future newsletter.

I've been keeping my food preservation externs busy at the Farmer's Kitchen. We've been making lots of sauerkraut as Tutti Frutti Farms keeps providing us with plenty of cabbage. We made 36 pounds of what I consider a spectacular red cabbage kraut that kept its' beautiful color with fantastic flavor. We canned 25 pints and served the rest as fried sauerkraut and eggs on our breakfast menu. I like the dish, a lot. The saltiness and tartness of the kraut pair wonderfully with the richness of the egg yolk. Even though I like the dish a lot, I was surprised when it sold out within a few hours. Don't worry if you
missed it, though, we've got a lot more sauerkraut on the way for future breakfasts, and we'll probably be making an egg Reuben with our kraut for the lunch menu.

One of the reasons I put the sauerkraut with eggs on the menu was to get people to think of kraut in new and different ways. It is culinarily versatile and darn healthy. Like many fermented foods, we should probably be eating more. Those visiting the Farmer's Kitchen should expect to see a number of different and interesting recipes using kraut for the near future.

I'm very happy with the flavor of the kraut we made, so I'm keeping the left over brine as a starter. One of our guests this Sunday liked our sauerkraut so much that they purchased some of our brine to use as a starter to make their own kraut.

You can, of course, purchase starters online, but I'm not that big a fan of those for this type of fermentation. The reason is that, though the starters will work well initially, over time natural bacterial flora will tend to take over anyway. That is why you can't make San Francisco sourdough outside of San Francisco. Boudin, for example, has bakeries in Southern California, but they ship in new mother culture to their bakeries every month to keep the bacteria strain pure and not taken over by local Southern California flora. So, rather, than purchase a starter for sauerkraut online, I prefer to make my own. When I do find a local, natural culture that works well, then I will keep that strain as a starter.

We've also been making lots of grape jelly from MB Farms grapes. The regular jelly is fantastic, but we've also been making flavor variations, such as Cinnamon-Grape, Ginger-Grape, and a favorite of mine, Rosemary-Grape. More on flavor variations in a future email.

That's it for this week - I look forward to seeing some of you at my classes and at the Farmer's Kitchen.

As usual, if you have any questions about canning, pressure canning, fermentation, dehydration, freezing, pickling, curing, smoking or brewing, feel free to email me at
ernest.miller @ gmail.com.

Be sure to check out the blog, which hasn't been updated in awhile, but I plan to do some updating (probably):
http://preservenation.blogspot.com/

And/or join the Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=280846286958

Thanks,
Ernie

Preservation Link Roundup 8/20/10

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

The Can Jam deadline is upon us and there is post after post of canned tomato recipes.

Ketchup seem particularly popular and people are using a variety of recipes and techniques to make it:

• What Julia Ate - Tomato Ketchup: August Can Jam
• Putting By - Ketchup
• Hitchhiking to Heaven - Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup -- With Kudos
• Yes, Another Cooking Blog - Ketchup for August Can Jam

There are other interesting posts as well.

Such as a tomato jam, which makes a refreshing change of pace in both savory and dessert applications Backyard Farms modifies one recipe with the addition of bay leaf and celery seed (CanJam # 8 Tomato Jam). I like the use of savory spices in jams. Bay leaf is almost always a good call and celery seed pairs very well with tomatoes, so why not?

Barbecue sauce is a great cannable item and Putting By has some good suggestions (Barbecue Sauce).

Local Kitchen makes a classic salsa but uses some time-saving techniques (Can Jam: Roasted Tomato & Chipotle Salsa). In addition to Ketchup, Yes, Another Cooking Blog also made salsa (Salsa-August Can Jam Tigress).

Tomatillos aren't green tomatoes, but they still make amazing salsa, as Put a Lid on It uses them instead of too expensive tomatoes (Roasted Salsa Verde).

I'll end the tomato posts with Well Preserved (Stewed (Canned) Tomatoes). A simple and classic recipe, to be sure, but check out the list of tips for canning. Some are tomato specific, but many are just general good ideas. Especially "Never do it if you don`t want to. It is supposed to be fun and it`s well worth it when you are in the moment." But read them all.

Ok, so maybe you are tomatoe'd out. August is also the best time of year for peaches. Stick a Fork in It, the OC Weekly's food blog, looks at peaches (At the Farmers' Market: Peaches), as does The Atlantic (The Annual Hunt for Perfectly Ripe Peaches):

These are my words of wisdom when it comes to peaches. Never squeeze a peach, as you basically ruin it. Select unbruised peaches with nice color, full shape, and nice weight for their size. Place the peach stem side down on a linen napkin or cotton tea towel—no substitutions. Make sure the fruits don't touch, and keep them in a cool place, not in the sun, then cover them with another linen napkin or cotton tea towel. It may take a few days. They are ripe when they smell like peach and the stem side is pressed down a bit from the weight and softening of the peach. The perfect peach should be quite perfumed, juicy, and soft.

Canning recipes almost always say to remove the peach skin before various types of processing take place. I say, not always. Check the peach first. Biting is the best method. Is the skin too thick, too chewy, too annoying? Then go ahead and skin those peaches. But if the skin is thin and not too chewy, why not leave it on? If you're going to chop finely or purée (as for a peach butter), then the skin is even less of a problem.

With all the August preserving emphasis on tomatoes and stone fruit, it might be easy to forget that pepper season is coming soon, if not already here. Squid Ink looks at a pepper variety now showing up in the farmers' markets (What's in Season at the Farmers Markets: Sometimes Spicy Padrons) and The Kitchn provides a recipe for pickling and canning them (Savory Canning: Pickled Peppers).

The Paupered Chef makes homemade pineapple vinegar (How to Make Homemade Vinegar (It Couldn’t Be Easier)). I'm a huge fan of homemade vinegar in all its varieties. What is happening here, of course, is an alcoholic fermentation of the pineapple and brown sugar (the more traditional piloncillo is readily available - and cheap - in Mexican supermarkets), and then a secondary fermentation from an alcoholic beverage into vinegar. I'd probably distinguish the two fermentations myself, and innoculate the alcohol with my own mother, but his method couldn't be simpler.

Emergency Food Storage Pros sing the praises of "Lock & Lock" food storage containers (Food Storage Containers: Lock & Lock). They love them, but there might be a little bias:

One thing that I have not spoken enough about on this food storage website is food storage containers. I have no excuse, now that I have been in South Korea for the past six weeks, and my brother in law is Chief Production Officer of Lock & Lock here.

I've never actually used them myself; I'm more of a Cambro guy (Surf City rulz!), but I've been seeing more and more of them, so they're probably pretty good. They're available on Amazon and at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but if you are here in Southern California, you'll find the best selection and prices at Korean supermarkets or department stores, where they are readily available. When next I need some storage containers, I'll probably give these a try.

Last but not least, Little Homestead in the City does their weekly roundup of what is happening at their urban farm (Homestead Happenings). Their canning shelf is absolutely fantastic!

Preservation Link Roundup 8/19/10

The Kitchn features a beverage I thought was only homemade: sauerkraut juice (Kraut Juice: A Tasty Can Full Of Stink!). I've always been a fan of pickle juices and sauerkraut juice, I just didn't know it was sold on its own. Apparently it is fairly common in Europe and those places in the US where German immigrants settled. It is full of vitamins and, bonus if you make your own, you get the probiotic benefits as well. The Kitchn also has a recipe (Try This! A Tomato Tang With Kraut Juice). Try some in soups or salads as well, as a substitute for vinegar.

Patrick Costello is matching peaches with lavender both for preserves and syrup (More Canning and Whoa Lavender Peach Syrup!).

Sometimes when preparing stone fruit, you might have bits and pieces of fruit that you can't really use, such as the parts that cling to the stones in clingstone fruit (especially likely

Sake + Cheese fell in love with giardiniera and when the supply she bought ran out, decided to make her own (The Canning Continues: Hot Giardiniera). Good call. This is one of the most satisfying pickles to make. The flavor is rich, has plenty of depth and is texturally eclectic. Not too mention it looks spectacular.

Moo Said the Mama has an excellent photo essay on making and canning ketchup, well worth checking out if you're thinking of making some (Ketchup Canning Tutorial). MStM does note that the recipe they used ended up tasting more like cocktail sauce than ketchup. That is a problem with ketchup recipes, they do vary a lot in terms of flavor. As I've noted before, we're used to that commercial flavor. Don't be surprised if your ketchup tastes different. (Although I look for clove and celery seed in recipes ... they are definitely two flavor keys to ketchup, as far as I am concerned) Keep trying recipes until you find one you like. And know also that the sweetness of homemade ketchup can vary a great deal depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes. The golden cherry tomatoes from my garden are crazy sweet, while my Romas are sweet, but not like the cherry tomatoes.

The National Post also provides a recipe and description of making homemade ketchup (Field Trip: Canning Tomatoes).

If you're a canning beginner, this first time canning experiment by Frugal and Focused would be a useful experience to read about (Learning the Art of Home Canning: Experiment #1 - Blueberry Syrup). Yep, fruit syrups can boil over very easily. Use a big pot. Syrups might seem a bit thinner than you're used to. Don't thicken them before canning, but thicken just before use, if you choose to thicken them at all.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel interviews a local canner, Anna Cameron of Ladysmith Jams, who uses many foraged fruits in her preserves (The new can-do spirit: Santa Cruz jam maker savors the fruits of her foraging).

"It's something to see that little piece of heritage," she said. "But foraging goes back to an even deeper genetic history. Even before we were hunters, we were gatherers. Picking fruit calms me, it makes me feel human in this world of business and to-do lists and screen time. Go pick blueberries down an alley and you'll feel better!"

The article also has a brief history of canning.

Preservation Link Roundup 8/17/10

Yes, Another Cooking Blog cans tomato halves for the Can Jam (Tomato halves for Can Jam-August). Why halves? Much less floating. Floating doesn't affect flavor, but isn't an aesthetically pleasing.

But that's not all - how about a basic tomato sauce? Basic Tomato Sauce for August Can Jam

Bread Experience makes a non-basic tomato sauce (Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce: Tigress Can Jam).

Plate to Plate goes through some tomato canning basics (Canning Tomatoes). For more advanced tomato canning you can check out this post from Well Preserved (A Guide to our best Tomato Preserving (Canning) Posts).

If you need more hands on information, how about a class from my fellow Master Food Preserver Delilah Snell and the famous Evan Kleinman? The class is $100 and takes place September 11th (Tomato Canning Class: Mucho Mas with Evan Kleinman). I'll be doing a demo on the 29th.

I talked about pesto and basil yesterday, and today Road to the Farm has a lovely photo of some pesto she has put in canning jars for freezing (Oh, Pesto!).

Simply Daily Recipes reviews one of the newer canning books, Put 'Em Up (Put 'Em Up Book Review). As a beginning canner, she liked it. I've got a copy myself and will provide my opinion when I have time to play with it a bit.

Speaking of new preserving books, Doris and Jilly Cook are doing a giveaway of another new one (Giveaway: The Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning and Preserving).

And, speaking of giveaways, Food in Jars is giving away vanilla beans to three lucky winners, but everyone gets her recipe for peach sauce with vanilla - or follow the alternative directions to make peach butter (better than apple butter in my book) (White Peach Sauce with Vanilla (+ giveaway!)). There are some really great notes on acidification of white peaches, since they have borderline acidity.

Of course, vanilla is good, but why not some rum in that peach sauce? Local Kitchen makes a peach sauce with Kraken Rum (Pirate Peaches). Love the labels too. Wish she'd post the file.

Simply Recipes is on a frozen yogurt kick (Blackberry Frozen Yogurt). And why not? If you make yogurt on a regular basis (which you should) why not toss some of that yogurt (along with some flavorings and some sweetener) into an ice cream churn? It's a lot easier than making a French-style ice cream and the sweet/tart flavor is fantastic. Doesn't have to be dessert either, why not frozen yogurt as an intermezzo?

For more information on frozen yogurt, The Kitchn collects a number of recipes in an attempt at answering a question about making creamy frozen yogurt (How Do I Make Creamy, Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt at Home?).

Since I make my own kombucha at home I didn't realize that they've stopped carrying it many stores. The Kitchn asks whether you're getting your fix of kombucha now (The Great Kombucha Freakout: Are You Getting Your Fix?). My answer is yes, of course. Couldn't afford that store bought stuff in the first place. Even if I could, I'm not sure I'd want to pay so much for something that is simply tea and sugar and culture and some time.

Preservation Link Roundup 8/16/10

Sometimes I'm so jealous of Georgia. Seems like nearly every high school there boasts a community canning center. How come we don't have any in Los Angeles? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that there will be tours of these canning centers (Georgia Organics Plans Special Tour on Canning).

The canneries, Croom said, are a unique public resource.

"We really want people to use them," said Croom, Georgia Organics' Farm to School program coordinator. "What can take eight hours in your kitchen can take two-and-a-half hours there; you can do huge amounts at once."

We need one of these centers in LA.

Doris and Jilly Cook answer a question about non-sealing jars of stock when pressure canning (Ask the Goats: Bad Seals in the Pressure Canner). There is some good advice on getting a firm seal, such as removing as much of the fat from the stock as possible. I like to chill my stock overnight in the refrigerator and remove the fat that has solidified on the top. It is easy to remove the fat in this way and I also get a better idea how fortified my stock is - does it seem just like a thick liquid or have I gotten a jelly-like flavor bomb?

And don't forget to save the fat. The fat from beef stock makes a nice frying medium, especially for potatoes. Or use it (instead of butter) to caramelize onions. Chicken fat is even better, I think, because what you now have is a flavorful schmaltz. I wouldn't make Matzah balls without it.

In any case, the main recommendation was to let the pressure canner cool down for at least an hour after turning off the heat. This is good advice for any pressure canning. Just be careful that with some models of canners, excessive cooling may create a vacuum seal making opening more difficult.

Speaking of pressure canning, Frugal Canning did what everyone with a pressure gauge canner should do every year: get that gauge checked (Pressure Canning Gauge Check). Unfortunately, we don't have a testing setup in LA County, but will see if we can't get that changed in the next couple of months. Of course, even if you don't need to get the gauge checked, don't forget to replace any rubber gaskets on an annual basis as well.

The Jam and Jelly Lady provides a little background on how she left office worker and became tJ&JL (My Journey to Becoming a Canning Mom).

Well Preserved is getting ready for some major tomato canning (The Tomatoes are Here – One of My Favourite Weeks of the Year). Sounds like a good time with family!

We`ve got our system down pretty good and the four of us can run through 6-8 bushels with a solid day of work. Even after 5+ years of doing this as a team we find there`s a few kinks that we can work out (last year we had 200 liters of sauce but no large pots left for the hot water bath) and will continue to learn from the process. One of the great joys has been learning to work as a team and having fun together with it. We now complete the entire task in less than half the time than what we took 5 years ago (with most of the same equipment).

The Kitchn laments that they haven't done enough preserving this summer (something I can relate to), but there is still plenty of time for tomatoes (Weekend Meditation: That Time of the Year ... or counting the jars in my pantry). Of course, while you are canning those tomatoes with friends or family, you might want to take a break for a refreshing beverage. Luckily, the Kitchn also provides a simple recipe for Ginger Ale, with bread yeast providing the fermentation for the bubbly (Try This! Easy Homemade Ginger Ale).

There is more to canning tomatoes than sauce and whole tomatoes, however. Mother's Kitchen makes a tomato salsa for the August Can Jam (Can Jam August: Salsa #5). This recipe features tomato paste and tomato sauce for a thicker consistency (Mother makes her own from scratch). Looks really good to me.

The Washington Post looks at whether you can make a good homemade ketchup with those excess tomatoes (Could Homemade Ketchup Beat Heinz?). It might seem that is an obvious win for homemade, but we expect certain things from out ketchups, and some homemade versions (including some I've made) just don't seem what we're used to. Good, yes, but not quite the ketchup you've grown up with. On the other hand, maybe we shouldn't expect so much consistency in our flavors. We're not five year olds afraid of everything different. So, let one thousand ketchups bloom. More later, but I will demoing homemade ketchup Aug. 29 at the Hollywood Farmers' Market.

Know Whey makes "spiced peaches," which I call "pickled peaches" (Spiced Peaches). This year I've made both pickled peaches and plums. Love 'em. So sweet and tart. Although it is wonderful to have these pickles in the winter or for Thanksgiving as Know Whey does, I really enjoy them in the summer as well. They go great with barbecue and taste like summer to me; they are very refreshing on a hot day.

Tartelette does something a little more traditional with her peaches, she makes several jams (French Word a Week - Confiture de Peche). What I particularly liked is that she varies the flavor with different spices and a bit of alcohol. Why not try the same with pickled peaches as well?

Putting By makes a favorite preserve of mine: Razzleberry Jam). Sometimes you don't have enough berries for a single berry jam, or you just like to add layers of flavor. Razzleberry jam it is then.

In My Kitchen provides some excellent lessons learned on storing fresh basil (Garden Journal 8/15/10: How to and, More Importantly, How Not to Store Fresh Basil). Of course, sometimes you have more fresh basil than you can use over a few days. Freezing is the best method of preserving basil, though you can dry it as well. You can chiffonade the basil and freeze it in ice cubes, freeze it on sheet trays and then bag it, chop it and mix with oil to freeze as a preliminary pesto, or freeze as an actual pesto (my favorite).

And feel free to play around with the pesto. Cold Cereal and Toast not only makes a nice mention of a recent report on food policy (Planting the Seeds for Public Health: How the Farm Bill Can Help Farmers to Produce and Distribute Healthy Foods) but describes making pesto from a CSA excess of basil - but without the traditional pinenuts, substituted peanuts (The Thing About Surplus: Easy Peanut Pesto).

Preservation Link Roundup - Catching Up - 4/9/10

Since last week I discussed pickling leftover Easter Eggs, I decided to share a "before" shot of some of the four dozen eggs I pickled this week. In a couple of weeks, I'll share a photo of the finished eggs and even a dissection (to see the color gradation inside). I tried the pineapple pickled eggs and a soy sauce/pineapple brine.

Master Food Preserver (and co-author of this blog), Delilah Snell, has finalized her food preservation classes for the near future - check them out! I'll be doing one, wish I could do more, but my new job means my schedule is uncertain right now: Food Preservation Classes, Workshops and More - FINAL

She also is on the lookout for free fruit to preserve, especially loquats (Adventure in Loquats and Other Backyard Fruit - and a Special Request for Readers of this Blog!):

if you have any fruit trees that you want me to pick or you can pick and hand over-i will give you a few jars of whatever i make....viva Spring!

I was a participant in "loquat-a-palooza" last year, they are a great preserving fruit (though a little labor intensive).

Food in Jars takes a look at Ashley English's new book: Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More (A Good Book for the Can Jam or Anytime). She discovers that it is perfect for providing some ideas for April's Can Jam.

Not everybody has the room for a backyard smoker, or even a backyard. The Chicago Tribune runs a nice story on stovetop smoking (Smoke Signals). If you haven't tried smoking food at home yet, the stovetop method is a great place to start. You'll be surprised by the flavors you can achieve. I love smoked foods, and what you can do easily at home beats the heck out of what is available commercially. Smoke is another one of those techniques that can be used to transform routine dishes and take them to a new level. Mmmmm ... smoked roasted chicken salad.

Leda Meredith of her eponymous Urban Homestead did a radio interview on the Heritage Radio Network's Hot Grease in which she discusses lacto-fermentation as a preservation method among other topics (Hot Grease Interview).

If you are lucky enough to have access to ramps (foraged or in farmers' markets), then you might want to read a bit about using and preserving them. Local Kitchen provides some excellent ideas and information (Ramps):

The Spring ramp season is short; to preserve your bounty for the coming months, blanche & freeze the leaves as you would chard or kale, or make pesto or infused oil or vinegar as you would with fresh herbs. Dry chopped bulbs and leaves in a dehydrator or low oven, or use in pickles, chutneys, or confit. For a host of allium preserving recipe ideas, check out the March Can Jam round-up. I have a big pile o’ ramps to cook with, and I hope to score some more to preserve, so I’ll update this post as I experiment. Stay tuned!

The Canning Doctor roasts a chicken and then makes and cans stock from the carcass (Pressure Canning Again). This is an excellent practice whenever you roast a chicken (one of the greatest, most versatile meals there is). If you don't have time to make the stock that day or the next, freeze the carcass and make the stock when you do have the time.

The Practical Preserver provides instructions for properly freezing strawberries (Strawberry Season). Though I'm a huge fan of canning, in my book, it is always a good idea to have some frozen berries available in the pantry - then you are ready for all sorts of quick desserts and sweet/savory dishes.

One Perfect Bite makes a versatile pesto (aren't most pestos versatile?) from homemade sundried cherry tomatoes (Red Pesto Sauce + Home-Style Sun-Dried Tomatoes). It'll be awhile before tomato season is back, but I'm lucky enough to have a stock of homemade sundried (actually, dehydrator'd) cherry tomatoes from last August to give this pesto a try.

What Julia Ate is clearing out her freezer by canning the contents, in this case combining summer stone fruit with her homemade pectin (Apricot Plum Jam with Orange Pectin). Once again, she shares her valuable experience in working with homemade pectin.

After learning how easy it is to make buttermilk, What Julia Ate also learns how easy it is to make crème fraîche (Crème Fraîche). Crème fraîche is basically buttermilk made from cream, so it is richer and thicker. It is an excellent substitute for sour cream in most recipes, and is incredibly useful in its own right. It doesn't curdle and it is a great addition to hot dishes, such as soups and sauces. Or use it to make your own "ranch" dressing.

Preservation Link Roundup 4/1/10

All sorts of preservation news from Master Food Preserver Delilah Snell. First, she has a list of food preservation classes for the next couple of months. Most are at her shop, the Road Less Traveled Store, but a few are in other places (Food Preservation Classes, Workshops & Events April and May 2010). I'm doing one at her store on April 18th (fermentation: yogurt, kombucha and vinegar) and we'll be doing another demo together at the Hollywood Farmers' Market on May 16th. There are many classes, so check them out.

Delilah is also making some progress on her root cellar (Root Cellar Upodate). Root cellars are great preservation spaces. Many types of food (often root vegetables, natch) store very well in cool dry spaces and don't need refrigeration. They are also good spaces for many types of fermenation; Delilah will be using her for vinegar.

I haven't talked about cheese much on this blog, but making cheese is a food preservation technique, of course. It is actually appropriate to discuss cheese-making in the spring because we seldom realize nowadays that milk was (and still is, in some cases) a seasonal good. For example, due to seasonal breeding seasons, both goats and sheep produce milk a maximum of ten months a year and usually (much) less.

Slashfood provides some background on a traditional fresh cheese from Italy that is often a featured part of the Easter holiday feast (What is Easter 'Basket' Cheese?). Make your own basket cheese following instructions provided on eHow (How to Make Basket Cheese). It's simple, give it a try.

Not too different from basket cheese is fromage blanc. Know Whey shares a recipe for the cheese and also a wonderful use for it (Fromage Blanc Tart).

What Julia Ate tries another method of milk preservation (Buttermilk). Hers is a good story of how one can have a consistent supply of buttermilk without paying the outrageous prices at the supermarket every time you want to make biscuits, pancakes, fried chicken or any one of thousands of dishes improved by tart, fermented milk.

So, apparently, there is no refrigeration in space. Which means that NASA is big into food preservation for space travel. Slashfood has an interview with NASA's leading food manager for the International Space Station, Vickie Kloeris (NASA Chef Talks About Food in Space).

"All our food has to be processed because there is no dedicated refrigeration," Kloeris explained to Slashfood. "We use freeze drying and thermo-stabilizing, which is like canning but we use pouches. We also use natural form products like cookies and dried fruit."

Read the whole thing.

Oh, Briggsy... enjoys some salami from Mario Batali's dad and is intrigued and entranced by pickled sunchokes (Tuesday Night Pickling Club: Pickled Sunchokes).

Congratulations to Well Preserved on their first published article in Edible Toronto (Our First Published Article – Spring Preserves). It is beautifully layed out, a pleasure to look at. They will be doing an entire series - highly recommended.

I would love to see the various Edible Communities magazines featuring a quarterly preserving feature, preferably written by local preservers.

Backyard Farms publishes a photo of her father's humble preserving shelves and reflects on why she preserves (Where I'm From - Part One).

When I find myself getting too caught up in trying to make something exotic, or longing over designer jars, I think of this shelf with its plain jars and handwritten labels. I think of the long hot summers of work that go into making these, and how good they taste when we eat them in the dead of winter, and I remember why I do this.

Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, provides a market update for Eat LA: there are seedlings perfect for gardeners and also some beautiful purple baby artichokes - perfect for pickling (Spring "Starts" at the Farmers' Markets).

Preservation Link Roundup 3/29/10

Mere hours after I posted my weekly email on making homemade vinegar using "Two Buck Chuck," a cheap an inexpensive, but decent wine, I got the news that some people are suggesting a ~$5 tax per bottle of wine here in California, according to LAist (Initiative to Tax Alcohol Could Bring California Billions — That's Because Your Vodka Will Cost $17 More).

A new initiative that would increase the tax on alcohol was cleared for signature gathering today by the Secretary of State's Office. And it's not a modest tax increase, it's huge. Tax on a six-pack of beer would increase from 6-cents to $6.08. And say goodbye to two-buck chuck--a tax on a 750 ml bottle of wine would go from 4-cents to $5.11

Hopefully they won't get enough signatures to get on the ballot and, if they do, I hope Californians realize what a bad idea this would be, not just for homemade vinegar but for cooking and eating in general.

Know Whey is celebrating sugar making time in the Northeast with a breakfast cake that features two preserved foods: homemade applesauce and yogurt (Sugaring Time: Maple Sugar Applesauce Breakfast Cake). It looks delicious.

I'm wondering if you alter the recipe and substitute in any fruit butter (with a little liquid) in order to alter the flavor and look.

Speaking of breakfast cake, Kevin West reports on the breakfast he makes as a preserver (A Preserver's Breakfast). Here's hoping he feels better soon.

They always say the toughest step is admitting you have a problem, and it appears as if Hitchhiking to Heaven has taken that step (I Need a Canning Intervention).

This will be my first time entering anything in the [Marin County] fair and I'm kind of spazzed out about it. I'm pretty well set in most of the categories I want to enter: I have three marmalades, three jams, and a conserve, which are the things I do best -- and you'd think that would be plenty. Except I got it in my head that I want a jelly. One really nice jelly.

H2H is having a few problems with the jelling point. This isn't an uncommon problem, especially when you are working with new recipes. Experience really helps, so just keep at it!

And a reminder for my local readers - don't forget to get ready to enter preserving judging at the LA County Fair (Time to Prepare for the Oscars of Food Preservation - Weekly Email).

The Waterbury, CT Republican American profiles Tom Wallace, a local gardener/canner (A Year-Round Gardener Cans It in Seymour).

Last year, the Wallaces canned 237 quarts, 220 pints and 57 half-pints. Since 2000, they have canned 4,336 jars. He stores them in his basement, except the peppers, which he keeps in the freezer.

I'm such a slacker.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports on a "Spring Gleaning" (Spring Gleaning: An Evening of Hope and Bounty).

Spring Gleaning was an inspiring event held Sun., Mar. 21, 2010. Hosted by Slow Food, Slow Harvest, Farm to Pantry and Susan and Lou Preston, it was a celebration and collaboration of sustainable farming, gleaning, canning, caring and community

Sounds like a cool idea.

Finally, Nelson's Home Canning Tips makes some loquat jam (Loquat Jam). Loquats are coming into season in Southern California. They are rarely seen in the markets, because they go bad so quickly and don't travel well. They are sometimes seen in the farmers markets, but not often.

Of course, if you live in LA, you've probably seen an incredibly fecund tree or two in the neighborhood. Enjoy the fruit fresh, but preserving them is the only way to enjoy them outside that two or three week window. More on the loquat in a later post.

Sour Wine - Vinegar - Weekly Email

Greetings!

As of last Sunday, spring is officially here. And although we are dealing with our usual morning overcast, it is neither too hot, nor too cold - great for a nice walk (fantastic wildflowers right now) or working outside. And it is a good thing too, since it it time to plant those tomatoes! Don't forget to plant some extra for canning next August.

I was so busy planting last week (among other things) that I couldn't get to the weekly email. Sorry.

A quick announcement:

We do have some local food preservation classes scheduled in April. Not by yours truly, but local chefs and artisans.

Certified Master Food Preserver trainee Kevin West and Valerie Gordon of Valerie's Confections will be holding a class on sweet and piquant preserving (jams and pickling):
http://www.savingtheseason.com/journal/sign-up-for-private-preserving-lessons.html

The sustainable supperclub Chicks with Knives will also be holding a pickling class:
http://www.chickswithknives.com/cookingclassespickling.html

Now, when I think spring, I think fresh spring greens. When I think fresh spring greens, I think salad. The thought of salad leads to thoughts of vinaigrette. Vinaigrette --> vinegar. Time to refresh my vinegar stocks!

Making your own vinegar couldn't be easier or result in higher quality than you can get in the average store.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/26/10

Sharon Astyk, author of Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Preservation and Storage, will be hosting an online course in food preservation starting April 15th (Food Storage and Preservation Class!). The cost is $150 (there are some scholarships) and you can pay with barter.

The New York Times Fashion & Style section provides yet another article on the growing popularity of kombucha (A Strange Brew May Be a Good Thing). Although you can buy kombucha more readily, making it is so inexpensive, costing nothing more than brewing tea with a little sugar and having some patience.

Food Forward, a group that gleans or harvests otherwise unused fruit in Los Angeles, reports that they're "Can It" initiative has its first product - preserved meyer lemons (CAN IT’s! First Vintage is here).

If you recall, about a week ago Put a Lid On It pickled some beets - but not simply for the beets, but so that the beet brine could subsequently used to make pickled eggs. Well, now the pickled eggs are ready (Pennsylvania Pickled Easter Eggs). Looks like a great recipe. I'll be writing more on pickled eggs next week.

The Pickle Blog from Rick's Picks (an artisan pickle maker in NYC) has an interesting book to read, Pickled Potted and Canned, a history of food preservation (Pickled, Potted and Canned). I look forward to Rick's forthcoming review, but it is definitely going on my wish list right away.

This is cool. The LAist reports that urban farming has taken a big step towards legality in Los Angeles (Fruit & Flowers Go Legit: Ordinance on Urban Farming Approved). What this means is that (hopefully) soon small-scale urban farmers will be able to legally sell their produce and flowers in Los Angeles. This can only be good for food preservation.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/25/10

The New York Times is starting a new series on certain "power" ingredients (Making a Foreign Staple Work Back Home).

This is only one of the many potent flavor boosters that can be appropriated from relatively unfamiliar cuisines. Over the next few months, we’ll check out a number of them, exploring how they are used traditionally and how they can be slipped into your daily cooking. The more you use them, the more uses you’ll find for them.

In other words, we’re going to exercise a little benign culinary imperialism, appropriating ingredients and adding them to our larder. No one gets hurt, and dinner becomes more interesting.

The first ingredient they note is pomegranate molasses, a thick syrup of pomegranates with some sugar and lemon. This versatile stuff you can make and can at home, if you access to a pomegranate tree. Last year I made and canned grenadine, which is basically a less-reduced version of pomegranate molasses.

As a matter of fact, I broke out a pint of my grenadine to make "pink" lemonade (lemons from my backyard tree) last night.

Know Whey has had a number of good food preservation posts over the past week or so.

Last fall, KW purchased a beautiful hand-thrown pickling crock. I have one of the same design, but from Germany. They're relatively expensive, but well-designed for their job. To justify the expense, though, they've been making a lot of sauerkraut (Sauerkraut and Vermont Choucroute Garni).

When you have sauerkraut a classic preparation from Alsace is choucroute garni. "Choucroute" is a Francophile version of the German word "sauerkraut." The dish is usually a braised sauerkraut served with various sausages and/or cured meats. WK recommends a good Riesling with the dish, but look for a dry one, which is more typical of the style of Alsace.

Bonus: they provide a homemade sausage recipe for the dish.

KW also has a recipe for Seville Orange Marmalade that is very similar to Kevin West's (Marmalade). There are some excellent photos of the process.

Technically, apparently, if you make a clafoutis with anything other than cherries, it is called a flaugnarde. KW passes along that tidbit of information, as well as a recipe for using frozen blackberries and her home canned peaches in a flaugnarde (Almost Spring: Peach and Blackberry Clafouti). What a great idea for using all sorts of home canned fruit.

The Kitchn uses Weck canning jars for dry storage. What is really interesting is that they use a white indelible ink marker to label the jars which, if you have good penmanship, looks like a pretty cool way to label jars in general (Pantry Style: Weck Canning Jars and a White Pen). The only problem?

The ink can easily be removed, but only by using solvent based removers (like nail polish remover) or by carefully scraping with a razor blade, both which require extra caution.

Food in Jars is inspired by the Passover Seder to make a jam based on the traditional dish, charoset (Charoses Inspired Jam for Passover). Brilliant! Sounds delicious!

There is some discussion as to whether this is a jam or conserve but, since charoset can contain various dried fruits, add some and you're definitely in conserve world.

The LA Weekly's food blog Squid Ink keeps you up-to-date on what is in season in Southern California in their Farmers Market Report. This week, the focus is on sorrel (What's in Season at the Farmers' Markets: Sorrel). Although the article focuses on sorrel's use as a leafy green, it is also frequently used as a flavoring herb. Sorrel jelly, anyone? It will lose some of its flavor when heated, but it has an affinity for grapes and mustard, and would certainly be good as a flavoring for vinegar. Taste some and consider some of the other flavors it would pair well with or enhance.

Speaking of flavored vinegars, the EpiLog fears canning, but will happily preserve the flavor of tarragon in vinegar (Flavored Vinegar: Saving Tarragon In A Bottle).

Need a t-shirt to show off pride in your canning? How about this one from JP Harris' shop on Etsy (YES WE CAN - Just Food - Green Print on Natural Organic Tee)? via The Kitchn

The Penny Pantry - "Recapturing the Old Fashion Art of Pantry Building While Drastically Reducing Your Grocery Bill!" - discusses growing and canning your own greenbeans (Canning Greenbeans in the Garden). Greenbeans alone must be pressure canned, but pickled dilly beans are always popular and can be waterbath canned.

Local Kitchen continues her exploration into canning pumpkin preserves (not recommended by the USDA) by trying a recipe from the lauded Mes Confitures (Christine Ferber’s Pumpkin Jam with Vanilla Bean). Not only is she disappointed in the tooth-achingly sweet results, the error in the recipe translation (700g ≠ 2.25lbs), and the recommended non-processing, and the fact that the acidity level is questionable (read her analysis). The USDA recommendations are conservative, of course, but do you really want non-conservative rules where potential botulism is involved?

Anarchy in a Jar is experimenting with apple jelly flavored by juniper berries (Apple Jelly with Juniper Berries). We'll have to wait to hear the results.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/16/10

Well, we've been hit with another, thankfully mild, earthquake this morning (Preliminary Earthquake Report: 4:04AM PDT: Pico Rivera, CA). Looks like the Whittier Narrows Fault is active again, which gave us so much trouble back in 1987. Lucky me, I live only a few miles away - on the Montebello side in 1987 and the Whittier side today.

I'm not going to go too much into earthquake preparedness. But food preservation is an important part of it. Not only do you have to worry about losing electricity (and, therefore, your freezer), but natural gas may also be unavailable (no cooking). Having precooked food you can eat out of the jar (beans, meat, soups) would be a good thing.

Chickens in the Road is giving away a copy of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and all you have to do is leave a comment on her post (read the whole thing for details) (Ball Blue Book Giveaway).

Putting By has a beautiful photo of their canning pantry as well as an inventory of what they have (or should have) in their stocks (Inventory :: March 1, 2010). Is there a specific word, perhaps German, for organization envy?

Another organization tool is the preserving journal. Susan Busler, an extension agent for Douglas County in Oregon, writes about pantry organization and how a preserving journal can help in the Douglas County News-Review (Extension Spotlight: Spring Cleaning Applies to Edibles as Well).

Churches are a good place to share information on food preservation. In Hurley, Mississippi a church is hosting a public class on food preservation (Can You Can? Homemaker's Lost Art Finds a New Audience in Hurley Church).

Debra Dickson, women's ministry director at Full Life Assembly of God in Hurley, decided to arrange educational courses for members of her church.

When she polled church members to see what subjects interested them, canning was a popular choice.

As a result, Full Life has partnered with the George County Cooperative Extension Service to offer a class called "Getting Ready to Can."

What church or other organization do you belong to? Perhaps you can get your local county extension to have a Master Food Preserver do a food preservation demo or class.

They probably don't need extension agents in Sweden:

The peoples of Scandinavia are masters of food preservation – techniques won through difficult and hard winters in which many bellies went hungry. From necessity and practicality, a heritage of cultured, naturally fermented foods was born. They bring us gravlax, pickled herring, cheeses and sourdough breads, inlagda rödbetor (a type of pickled beet) and, of course, a wide variety of yogurts such as viili, piimä, filmjölk and skyr.

Ah, Swedish cultured milks. Nourished Kitchen breaks down the universe of Swedish fermented dairy products, keeping you from confusing your viili with your skyr (Sour Milk: Lessons from Scandinavia). If you're ready to jump into the world of Swedish cultured milks, there is a culture giveaway as well (Giveaway: Win a Scandinavian Yogurt Starter (and How to Make Raw Milk Yogurt)).

Food in Jars disdained jelly for some time, but is rediscovering how wonderful they can be (Orange Jelly Recipe). That's wonderful because, for me, jellies are elegant in the way they can express color and flavor. There is a purity to their shimmering texture that is both old-fashioned in its composition and fresh and new in its flavor. A great thing is that you can pretty much make a jelly out of anything that can be used for an infusion. Herbal jellies (tarragon or basil definitely bring something special to the plate), tea jellies can be incredibly varied, and wine jellies can be amazing; your imagination is the only limit. This past weekend, I served thumbprint cookies with a hibiscus (jamaica) jelly.

And, as FiJ notes, fruit juices combined with other flavors creates an exponential number of options.

Speaking of jelly, The Kitchn wants to know what to do with mint jelly, other than serving it with lamb (What Can I Do With Leftover Mint Jelly?). There are some good suggestions in the comments, but it really is just about using your imagination. One very simple option: stir it into your hot tea. Similarly, you might consider adding it to a soup or curry. Or, when watermelon comes into season, cube the melon, melt some of the jelly, toss, chill and serve for dessert.

In other jelly related news, Scrumper is planning to make more scrumped Cornelian Cherry Jelly this summer (Scrumped Cornelian Cherry Jelly).

March Can Jam update:

Big Black Dogs uses onion in her pepper jelly - sounds good to me (Basil Banana Pepper Jelly *** The Hot Stuff!). And her onion jelly sounds pretty good too. I guess this is just jelly day on PreserveNation.

Bread Experience found a recipe for an onion relish that the recipe author suggested would be good on pizza. So, not only did she make the relish, she made the pizza too (Caramelized Red Onion Relish and Pizza: Tigress Can Jam).

Preservation Link Roundup 3/12/10

In addition to my response, there have been a number of other responses to Slate's dismissal of the canvolution:

• Chimpanzee Tea Party: Surprise! Slate Thinks Canning Overrated

  Anyone who's been around the internet a few times knows that Slate has a tendency to be contrarian to point of self-parody... in fact, it's such a well known meme that it has become tedious to point it out. However, since I think the idea of pickling is pretty neat... and have done it once and twice... and hope to try canning/pickling some of the bounty of the Maine garden with Anna and her Mom this summer... I felt a somewhat silly need to respond. A need that's all the more silly, since a read of the critique reveals there is no there there:

• The Baltimore DIY Squad: Is Canning Too Trendy?

  There are some truthful points to the article. Ball jars sure are photogenic. Canning is often a weekend activity that gets blogged about. Organic and heirloom crops can cost more than grocery store food. We foodmakers can sometimes sound self-satisfied when talking about our projects.
  
  But to say "let's be honest: It's not about producing serious food for the future, and it's not about shaking a fist at industrial food" is not just negative, it's downright wrong.

• Molly's Local Food Blog: Home Canning Question

  The article ends with the assertion that the products of home-canning, while not thrifty, etc., are tasty and fun to make. That they are, in the words of Eugenia Bone, an act of optimism. On that I think we can all agree.

• Serious Eats: 'Slate' Forgets That Urban Hipsters Aren't the Only Ones Canning Food
  Be sure to check the comments.

Mimi Holt pointed me to a jam-making excerpt from the new book Forgotten Skills of Cooking in the Guardian (How to Make Jam). Among some other good information, the excerpt includes the traditionally British practice of heating the sugar for jams in the oven in order to shorten cooking times (and make the jams taste fresher).

It isn't tomato season, but Granny Miller (no relation) notes that she didn't can enough tomato juice last year and plans on canning more. She also posts a nice slideshow of tomato canning, including a jar that didn't seal and the contents sent to the freezer (Canning Tomatoes & Making Tomato Juice).

The OC Weekly's food blog, Stick a Fork in It, highlights ripe cherimoya in the farmers markets right now (At the Farmer's Market: Cherimoyas). If you haven't had one yet, give it a try. As for preserving them, they aren't well suited to canning as they can turn brown and bitter. Rather, freeze them with a little bit of lime or lemon to hold the color and add a little flavor. Since the texture is going to be pretty soft anyway, might as well freeze as a purée.

Serious Eats posts a video of a Korean Great-Grandmother making kimchi (Video: How a Korean Great-Grandmother Makes Kimchi). She estimates that she has made kimchi 10,000 times. If you make or are interested in making kimchi, it is a good video to watch. It isn't really a recipe, but gives you a better idea of how it is made.

Destination Eats gets some free, promotional jerky in the mail ("I Want to Send You More Jerky!"). Two packages of sweet & spicy jerky arrive, one flavored with orange, the other with mango. Helpfully, DE lists the other ingredients (which are many of the usual suspects - and you probably already have in your pantry). So why not make your own?

Preservation Link Roundup 3/10/10

Bakers are all about the precision of a recipe - they take their measurements seriously. Chocolate and Zucchini shows this trait in her formula for converting commercial yeast recipes to a sourdough starter (Converting Yeast-Based Recipes To Use A Sourdough Starter). I'll have to give this a try.

Local Kitchen brings the first post I've seen on March's Can Jam (It's Alliums!) with some pickled shallots, even though she is not a fan of pickles - though maybe she is learning to appreciate them a bit (Pink Pickled Shallots).

Pickled shallots are absolutely delicious. If you can them, let the flavor develop at least a week. Most quick pickles that are canned will improve in flavor over a week or two. Most importantly, don't forget to save the brine! That shallot-flavored vinegar can be the base for delicious vinaigrettes or a gastrique. Or use it to dress a soup or beans.

Speaking of flavored vinegars, Small Measure, who picked "Alliums!" for this month's Can Jam, shows how easy it is to make beautiful and delicious infused vinegars for home and gifts (Bottled Bliss). More ideas for flavored vinegars: marinades, salsas, tartar and ceviche.

Paper Dolly Girl canned an awful lot in 2009, and reflects on what she has left, what she needs, and what she learned (Planning for 2010 Canning).

The LA Times has a nice article on how local restaurants are trying to be more green and sustainable (Serving Up Sustainability). There are a lot of good ideas that I hope other restaurants will take up, but one that isn't mentioned is food preservation. Fresh is great, but processed isn't always bad, especially when you are the one doing the processing. Food preservation has been an important (and sustainable!) aspect of human meals since the dawn of humanity.

Of course, many types of food preservation are labor intensive. Most restaurants will have a difficult time making enough preserved food for their customers, especially if they are doing stove-top processing. What might come in handy is, one guess, a community canning center, which would have the commercial retorts, steam kettles, filling equipment and other tools that would allow efficient and effective processing of significant amounts of food. In other words, a community canning center could be a great resource for sustainable restaurants.

For the professional cooks and chefs out there ... any comments and ideas on how you might use such a resource would be appreciated.

Food & Think from the Smithsonian, has discovered pickling (In a Pickle).

Salty and crunchy cucumber pickles have been a mainstay in American refrigerators for decades. But The Daily Beast recently listed pickling as one of its top trends for 2010. And the trend isn’t just for cucumbers—you can pickle just about anything. At the restaurant where I work, we serve pickled red onion on our burgers and pickled beets in our salads.

Although F&T visited the website of a PreserveNation favorite, Food in Jars, they didn't really discuss canning pickles.

Although I didn’t end up choosing a recipe from [Food in Jars], mostly because I wanted an in-season quick pickle, I learned a great deal about the basics. For instance, when pickling vegetables, it’s important to use a vinegar that has at least 5 percent acidity. In the brine, this can be diluted to one part vinegar, one part water.

This is actually only important if you are going to be canning the pickles. If you're only making refrigerator pickles, you have much more flexibility ... use that rice wine vinegar (at 4.3% acidity) if you want.

The Kitchn provides a recipe for preserved lemons and a recipe for using them (How to Make Preserved Lemons and Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon). Tagines are great, but don't think that preserved citrus is only for Moroccan food. Be creative; they can punch up just about any dish.

Serious Eats provides an inexpensive recipe for a Salvadoran staple: pupusas with curtido (Eat for Eight Bucks: Papusa con Curtido Recipe). Their recipe for curtido uses vinegar, but traditionally, curtido is basically a mixed vegetable and latin-spiced sauerkraut. You can use vinegar for a quick version, but you'll get better flavor with a 3-5 day fermentation. Try the pupusas with some black beans that you've pressure canned.

Ideas in Food has a good discussion of the differing varieties of juicers, and a few ideas of their use (Juicers).

I'll end with one more entrant in this month's Can Jam. Hitchhiking to Heaven decides to give chutney a chance (Carmelized Onion and Apple Chutney). She has a good tip on determining the right consistency for chutney.

Preservation Link Roundup 3/9/10

Doris and Jilly Cook decide to go a little tropical in the middle of winter; they couldn't resist buying a beautiful 3lb papaya and drying it (Dried Papaya). The flavor was a little cardboardy.

There are several potential reasons for this. One is that it simply wasn't a sweet fruit. Peak papaya season in the Northern Hemisphere is from early Summer to early Fall. The papayas obviously have to travel a long distance to make it to Philadelphia, and there is a good chance they came from the Southern hemisphere. Consequently, it is a fair probability that the papayas were picked unripe and firm. Although they will eventually turn yellow, the flavor and sugars will simply never develop properly. Also, in general, the larger the fruit, the more subtle the flavor.

When ripe, the fruit is soft to the touch, like an avocado. This is the perfect time for drying. Overripe, not so good. Underripe, also not good. A good sweet fruit, properly ripe, is very nice dried all by itself. It is common to soak them in a sugar syrup as well, or to even candy them. What Julia Ate suggested some lime juice, and that is an excellent suggestion, as is a little salt. Add some chile powder to the salt and lime and you have papaya pico de gallo. Delicious, absolutely delicious - fresh or dried.

Papayas work well in fruit leathers in combination with other fruits such as orange, kiwi, passion fruit, mango and pineapple.

And don't throw away the black seeds. Clean them and dry them and they make a slightly bitter substitute for black pepper. Frequently they are used in salad dressings and soups.

Ithacan held a food preservation workshop and over sixty people showed up to learn canning, pressure canning, drying, fermenting and cellaring, reports Ithaca's Food Web (Home Food Preserving Workshop Attracts Interest). Props to the organizers in Ithaca! Keep up the good work!

Wouldn't a community canning center be a great place to host such workshops in Los Angeles?

The Cosmic Cowgirl is surprised that she likes carrot cake jam (Carrot Cake Jam, Wha?).

Do you like dollhouses and canning? Then perhaps you'll like this miniature canning set for dollhouses from Reutter Porcelain (Reutter Miniatures CANNING SET Kitchen Cookware, Dishes). You could probably craft a nice little gift or ornament for your favorite canner from this.

Joe Pastry has put together a great primer on the the science of and making of yogurt. If you are at all interested in making your own yogurt, get thee hence:

• Culture Maven
• The Fresh-Fermented Dairy Tradition
• Yogurt Recipe
• So Where Does Yogurt Come From Then?
• Making Yogurt Step One: Choosing the Milk (best yogurt I ever had was from sheep's milk)
• Making Yogurt Step Two: Heating the Milk
• Making Yogurt Step Three: The Starter
• Making Yogurt Step Four: Fermenation
• Dude, Where's My Lactose? I and Dude, Where's My Lactose? II
• Garden on the Inside

We end today's post on a bittersweet note from Food in Jars, who savors the memories of a Southern California childhood as she finishes off some plum jam (Mourning the End of a Jar).

What memories is your food preservation building for your family (and children, if you have them)? One aspect of eating locally and seasonally that may not get enough attention is that we are building memories of place and time by doing so. How often do we associate holidays with particular foods? If you eat locally and seasonally, then different times of year will be associated with different foods and places in your memory.

Food preservation can let us access those memories through taste and smell, two of the most powerful memory senses as they tie directly into our hippocampus memory center.

I remember when I picked those tomatoes from the backyard. I remember when the orange tree was weighed down by bushels of fruit. I remember ...

Preservation Link Roundup 3/6/10

Stony Run Farm provides some very simple instructions for making a solar dehydrator from scraps (An Afternoon in the Garage). It requires a little woodshop skill, an old window and some wood scraps but not that much. If you check around the interwebs, you can find a number of different ways of making solar dehydrators. Just be careful that in our summer sun and heat your dehydrator isn't actually an oven.
via Two Frog Home

The Atlantic's Food Channel has some good suggestions for pantry staples that, when you need to cook out of your pantry, make life a good deal easier (A Southern Pantry for Stress-Free Meals).

The LA Weekly's Squid Ink keeps us up-to-date on seasonal produce, this week highlighting that most delicious of thistles, the artichoke (What's in Season at the Farmers Markets: Artichokes). There is some nice history and a brief discussion of the various varieties.

Artichokes can be pickled. The best artichokes for pickling are the small "baby" artichokes that you can eat whole, usually they are cut in half for pickling, pretty easy. You can pickle just the hearts, but trimming artichokes down to the heart is an awful lot of effort.

For more on what's fresh in the markets, check out Good Food every week (What's Fresh at the Farmers Market This Week). That rhubarb looks darn good.

Wisteria - Wisteria - Wisteria
It's that time of year again! Sierra Madre is hosting their annual wisteria festival Sunday, March 14th (2010 Sierra Madre Wisteria Festival). The Huntington Library also has some fine wisteria as well. The food preservation take? Wisteria makes a fine, delicately floral scented jelly. The violet color is lovely as well. CAUTION: Only the violet wisteria flowers are edible. Not the leaves, vines, roots, and ESPECIALLY not the seeds.

LampGoods' shop on Etsy has a cool looking hanging lamp made from a vintage Mason jar (Orono. Vintage BALL CANNING Jar PENDANT made NEW).

What is it with fermented cabbage and soups? Why do they work so well? Serious Eats publishes a Momfuku recipe for kimchi stew (The Momofuku Cookbook's Kimchi Stew with Rice Cakes).

All Types of Cooking, and a Whole Lot of Canning Here! always keeps a supply of home canned tuna on hand. She shares her technique and some good photos (Canning Tuna). I haven't canned tuna myself, but I definitely have it on my list of things I want to can.

I doubt canned tuna is the recipe Creative Canning is excited about canning when her new All American canner arrives soon (All American Canner). But she's right to be excited. The All American is, IMHO, the best pressure canner out there.

Nutrition Know How has a good list of things to do in order to get ready for canning season (Gear Up for Canning Season).

And, last but not least I take the time to go through my canned items. I check for any change in the canned items, and when the item was processed. I try to use all the items canned from the previous year before my next season starts. So if I have items that I have not used from the previous year, I know that I need to plan some menu’s that will include those canned goods before I start canning again.

Finally, it is a bit late in the season, but Slow Food USA has declared 2010 the year of the heirloom apple (Let 2010 be the Year of the Heirloom Apple). So, later this year, let's all can some heirloom varietal apple products. We might find that some of these heirlooms, which aren't great for out of hand eating, are very well-suited to particular canning recipes.