The whole reason I make canned/preserved foods is to be able to eat them when they are out of season and thus expensive and shipped in over long distances. But once you’ve got them, what do you do with them? Last year I made a couple of different pie fillings while the fruits were in [...]

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Now that we are in the new year and produce is beginning to wake from its long winter slumber, canning time is back! With my focus on canning only what’s in season, winter can be hard as there really isn’t a lot to can. But the good point about winter is that you get the [...]

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If you want to know how to preserve food by pressure canning, this article is what you need. You may want to check out my boiling water bath article as well. First, what foods must you pressure can? Low-acid foods. In this context, low acid is defined as “pH 4.7 or higher”. Vegetables, meat, fish, [...]

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One of the benefits of going to a farmer’s market is that you can get some absolute steals when they are at the end of their produce and want to go home. I got 1.5 bushels of tomatoes for $4. So far I have canned 7 qts of tomatoes and 7 qts of basic meat [...]

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This article should serve as a handy reference point for anyone who is unsure how to can by using the Boiling Water Bath, or Hot Water Bath, method. You might want to have a read of my article on setup costs as well. The technique I am describing here is only for products that can [...]

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The modern grocery store is a wonder. You have all sorts of produce available all the year round – strawberries in December and lemons in July. If you look carefully, you will notice that all of the produce is uniform – everything of one type is pretty much the same size, shape, and colour as [...]

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While making a batch of fig jam this morning, I had a strange crossover between my love of making food and my love of drinking really good beer. I have seen people dealing with an excessively foamy pint by… well, never mind what they did to kill the head, but the thought that struck me [...]

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An issue that holds people back from home canning is setup costs. I hope this article will reassure anyone in that position that the costs involved are quite reasonable and a worthwhile investment. First, you need to decide what kind of canning you are going to do – hot water bath or pressure. Hot water [...]

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As the temperature rises, so do your choices of fruit and veg. A good, but busy time of year! Beets – root and greens Broccoli Broccoli rabe Cauliflower Red Cabbage Chinese Cabbage Carrots Peas (various) Radishes Scallions / green onions / spring onions Tomatoes Summer squash Onions Potatoes Cucumber Corn Garlic herbs arugula / rocket [...]

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What is complete protein? It is a protein that contains all 9 essential amino acids. What do you mean by 9 “essential” amino acids? They are 9 amino acids that your body cannot produce. They have to come from an external source. So what if I eat incomplete protein? You’ll get nervous, dizzy, and suffer [...]

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