"Putting Up Preserves, like Glamor, is easy if you try!" Pictured above: Beautiful Jane ascending the staircase after a day of preserving. Original photo by JB Sabin modified by this blogger.
Greetings, Blog Friends!
This past Sunday was an overcast day in Western Maine and it was a perfect day for my lady friend, Jane, to come over and teach me how to "put up preserves."
My Mom (Elaine) preserved in our home when I was younger and it has always interested me.
Preserving makes sense, after all. Economically, one can buy fruit in season (usually less expensive) and this saves money. Production-wise, it saves from running to the grocery store every week for your choice of jam/jellies--you can just grab it out of your jelly cabinet and enjoy to your heart's content. Thirdly, you made it with your own hands and it is free of preservatives; you taste fruit, fruit,...and nothing but the fruit (lol)--unless you are preserving pickles (then you'd have a problem!)
Jane is a Certified Public Accountant. She works surprisingly well in the kitchen, too! She possesses a strong clinical sense of that which is financial, and applies this to her timing in the kitchen (thinking ahead, not overlooking the guide of the recipe itself, etc.) Besides being smart, she's easy-going and very "easy on the eyes!" She was a patient teacher during our afternoon together. Here are some basic things I learned:
1. Not all recipes can be canned or preserved. One that can have a balance of acidity that influence the integrity of the finished product.
2. Follow the sanitization of both jars, lids, and screw-top collars explicitly. Time everything.
3. The "head space" (the space from the top of the jar and what you fill it with) varies. Follow to the letter of the recipe. It will affect the formation of the vacuum seal.
4. If after processing the jar lids do not "pop," the food is not preserved and use it only as you would a refrigerated (open) jar of food.
5. Follow this disclaimer: Familiarize yourself with all proper canning procedures. There may be more "rules."
6. Share your preserved goodies with those who help make your life special. I get to share mine with my inn guests! After all, they deserve the best!
Our Orange-Rhubarb Preserves and Victoria Sauce (rhubarb with raisins, brown sugar, spices--"perfect on pork", Jane said) were delicious. Two of the jars did not pop so I will use them soon. We got these recipes from the Ball Jar Preserving guide.
Preserving is an annual tradition in the home cooking of yesteryear. An afternoon of cooking, the company of a lovely lady, and getting to share it with my 2010 guests--well, life doesn't get any better! Arrange this tradition with a friend of your own. Make it an annual event! You'll be happy you did.
From Sunny, Glorious Long Lake in Western Maine,
Keith A. Neubert
Innkeeper
Inn at Long Lake
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