Scratch Food with a Side of Geek Mom and Pop Culture.
It seems weird, I know, but I never got around to canning. I have, however, fallen solidly and madly in love with freezer preservation. In fact, freezer preserving oven-roasted cherry tomatoes is hands-down my favourite perk of gardening, and much of the reason why I continue doing it. Ever since I started up my planter…
Last year I pansied out on canning jam because I was intimidated by the idea of food poisoning. This year, I’m just flipping it off entirely. Canning for shelf-stability is a pretty precise science where well-tested recipes that doesn’t invite a great deal of playing around. It’s limiting, and boring, and many recipes taste pretty…
Have you ever wondered about how cream turns into butter, or why whipped cream and butter are different? I was thinking about post ideas, when someone said “have you done butter yet?” No, I haven’t done butter. Butter is gradeschool Homesteading 101, and everybody’s got a post on how to make butter. “Yes,” says my friend….
As a Polish woman living abroad, I sometimes find myself craving Polish products. One of my very favourite products is Polish curd cheese, or twaróg (pronounced in Polish, “tvaroog”). Obviously, I could buy it in the Polish store near my house, and sometimes I do. But I’ve always wanted to try making it myself, and inspired by Anne,…
Spinach can be frozen for storage. Because spinach is an early spring plant, a huge harvest can be laid in early and then pulled before the summer-loving plants like cucumbers are ready to sow. But, maybe you’re not a gardener. Maybe you’re just one of those people who have a hard time using a whole…
My friend Jennifer at Homegrown.org recently asked me to write up a 101 on making homemade pectin instead of using store-bought powdered stuff with dubious GMO ingredients. I happily complied, since I’ve got the hots for scientific research of the food variety. 🙂 You can find the entire 101 article at http://www.homegrown.org/forum/topics/making-pectin-101
Apple butter is big in the south. It strikes me as strange that it’s not quite so big here in the Great White North, where apples are in rampant supply come fall. So sad! Great things come from apple butter. I personally like it more as an ingredient than I do as a condiment–it’s…
If you’re brand spanking new to using a dehydrator, it can be tough to decide what to do experiment with first. Personally, I suggest fruit. Dried fruits are the easiest to use and store, great for snacking or for making things like trail mix, granola bars and muesli. They’re light, travel well, and store well…
Yay summer! And you know what that means, it’s time to start preserving! Well, that or just making yummy snacks out of some produce for your summer camping trips. 😉 Dehydrating is the second easiest and handiest method of food preservation, right after your freezer. It gets this rating because it requires only one piece…
If you’re like me and thinking about giving canning a try, you don’t have to rush out and buy all your own jars. Maybe you’re also like I was in being completely oblivious to many sauces and canned goods already coming in a glass jar that says “MASON.” Anything that’s marked with a Mason seal…