Putting Food By

It's what our ancestors did,

the ancestors who lived on farms

What they couldn't eat, they canned

For winter meals

Vegetables and fruits and jams and pickles

No freezers did these ancestors have

But they did have a "fruit cellar"

And hundreds of jars from half pint for jams and jellies to quarts for tomatoes and beans

Mom didn't really grow up on a farm

Although she grew up in a little town

But every summer she always

"Put Food By"

And in the summer at Linderhof,

her canning kettle sits on the stove

She never had a pressure canner

No, she did canning the old fashioned way

As her mother did, I am sure.

Tomatoes, green beans and peaches would be canned for the winter

Alas, most was not from our garden but rather purchased by the bushel

Just to can

She also made pear honey and grape jam

Because we had a pear tree and a grape vine.

I was a in Junior High School before I knew jam came in any flavor but grape!

And like her, I put food by as well

Not from the gardens of Linderhof

(Because they only grow herbs)

But purchased at the Farmer's Market

And not a lot -- not enough for the whole winter

But enough to make some meals special

And there is something satisfying about using Mother's canner

One of my favorite things to can --

tomatoes

Small tomatoes

A simple recipe from Anne Willan

a slice of onion, a bay leaf and some thyme

Fill the wide mouth jars with raw unpeeled whole tomatoes,

put on the flat lid and the ring and process in a boiling water bath

for an hour and a half

Weighing the jars down so they stay in the water

(they tend to want to float -- I just use one of my Le Creuset casserole lids)

They shrink some

But they taste of summer sun when you open them.

I bought a big box of Romas at the Farmer's Market Tuesday

And Wednesday, I "put them by"

I have shelves in the basement for my store.

And there is something satisfying about bringing up a home canned jar

from the basement.

It's Foodie Friday and I'm sharing my tomatoes with Michael at Rattlebridge Farm.