Preserving Food and Sanity - Part Three

I'm not sure I have much more to share since Stephanie and Regina did so well in sharing their thoughts. (But if you know me well, you know that I always have something more to talk about.)

If you haven't read the first two installments, read the question that sparked the topic and first answer here and the second answer here.

1. If you have never preserved food, give yourself time to learn this new skill. It is far better to start small, maybe with one kind of vegetable than to attempt to grow all you own food and get discouraged. I wrote about this topic in garden planning. Make small, attainable goals, learn from your mistakes and successes, and use your experience to have a better garden the next year. Eventually you will be the expert that others turn to for advice.

2. Borrow others' experience. Regina touched on this but I wanted to mention again that as useful as books and magazines are, an experienced friend is your best asset in growing and preserving food. If you know few people who garden, you might need to get creative in finding that experience. But if you ask questions, take notes, and listen, you may find help at a local greenhouse, your extension office, or the elderly man who sits behind you at church.

3. Keep good records. I'm often asked how much to plant or preserve, but I find that question impossible to answer. How fertile is your soil? What pest problems do you have? How much of this vegetable will your family eat in a year? The variations are limitless. I'm not even sure how much I should plant some years - and can certainly not give any other person good advice. 

But your records will be invaluable. I have a ruled notebook that I write down all my preserving records. In the back, I have written down canning and freezing information. For years, I had to call my mom many times each summer because I couldn't remember how long to can peaches (only one example). I finally decided to save myself all those phone calls and write it down!

I also have a 3-ring binder that I have all sorts of gardening info. I save my packing list from the seed company so I remember what seeds I ordered. I sketch my garden plan so I remember what I planted where and can rotate the vegetables the next year. I also like to write down a few notes about when I planted the garden, what the weather was like, and any particular problems. Some years I have included harvest dates, or dates when I bought fruit from a local orchard.

On my most organized years, I utilized my calendar. I knew I wouldn't pull out my binder every time I planted another row of beans, or we picked the first strawberry. I kept a green pen by my calendar and wrote garden notes right on the calendar. At the end of the year, it was easy to flip through the calendar looking for green ink to record the garden info in the garden notebook.

After a few years, you will have your own resource of information and will know if you need to plant more bean seeds or fewer, plant earlier or later, and how much to put in your freezer or can in jars.

4. My house doesn't have priority at canning season. I have a few goals to keep my head above water but otherwise, I try to remember that for this season, I can't be particular about my house. My goals (which are not always met) are to wash up all the dishes before I go to bed, clean the bathrooms every week, and have one of the children vacuum the dining room every day. If these three things are done (plus some laundry) and the children do general pick up of their toys, I can ignore the other dust and dirt for a while.

5. I don't even attempt to homeschool during the busiest gardening season. Several years ago, I learned that trying to start school the last week of August when my garden was in peak season was a recipe for a crazy mom. I decided that I would do anything to avoid starting school during peak harvest season.

For us, the answer has been to homeschool in July. We usually finish our school year in mid-May. After a six week break, the children need something to keep them occupied, especially since July is often our hottest weather. July is also in between the planting and harvesting. I may have green beans in July, but little else. For the last two years, we have planned to have four weeks of school in July. We then take a six week break until mid-September. This gives us a three-month summer vacation, but divided in the busiest garden season. An added advantage has been that the children have a refresher course mid-summer and do not forget as much.

This is what works for us- you find what works for you! I know some moms who homeschool for three days a week in summer so they have a day or two to work on bigger projects like harvesting.

6. Even those of us who have grown up helping our mom's garden, still have to make choices for our sanity. I have decided not to grow peas. We love peas, but with the garden space they take and the time, I choose to go to a local  pick-my-own patch. They also have a shelling machine so I can pick and shell my peas in a few hours and be done for the year. Regina chooses to buy her peas and limas at a produce farm. They cost more, but her husband thinks it is good use of money to save her the time of picking. And Stephanie buys cases of petite peas already packaged and freezes them.

In an ideal world, maybe we would grow and preserve all our own food, but well, I can't do it all. I have not grown lima beans for years, though they are my husband's favorite vegetable. Limas seem to be ready to harvest during the busiest harvest time, so he tells me not to plant them. I haven't made pickles for at least five years. We don't eat that many pickles, so I just buy a jar occasionally. (I was given some cucumbers by a friend last year and made some pickle relish.) I find that as my family grows, I have to put away more of the basics, so some of the "extras" that I did as a new bride, are set aside.

What does your family like to eat? How much time can you give to a garden? What is most important to you? Do you want fresh salads, or frozen green beans? Do you want home canned fruit, or tomato sauce? Can you do it all? Maybe. But, especially if gardening is new for you, I wouldn't recommend it!

Is there any more questions I missed? Do you have some good hints on preserving food without going crazy? I'd love to hear your hints because I know there is much more I can learn!

Preserving Food and Sanity - Part Two

Continuing from yesterday...I asked my friend Regina (who has shared with us on this blog numerous other times) if she had any tips. 

Preserving Food and Sanity - Part Two 
By Regina

1.  Don't feel like you have to can to be a good  mom or Christian.  I have to remind myself at times because I can feel guilty when I don't can all that I could or think I should.  

2.  Be realistic. For example, I would love to can soups - but since the pregnancy sapped my energy, it was the first thing I let go that I did want to try this year.  Canned soup would be lovely to have on hand, but not like a necessity (although since doing my research and reading even more food labels, I'm starting to feel I need to can my own soups and cream soups- after reading all the yucky stuff in it.)  This could apply to other things like pickles and relishes etc. 

3.  Like Stephanie mentioned, I try to keep myself on a schedule so that I can things every other year.  For example, one year I like to do salsa.  Maybe the next I will try ketchup.  I used to do pizza sauce every other year but we have been using more since family growing so that isn't always working out.  Pickles are another every other year or every two year thing for me. Corn is something I do every other year - sometimes even every three years.

4.  I will freeze more green beans just because they are so easy to do and less time consuming compared with peas or lima beans- even though we like peas best.  I am trying to use the same principal and teach my family to eat more applesauce since I think it is the quickest fruit to can compared with peaches or pears.

  

5.  There is no way to really know when some produce will be ready.  I just know the orchard will always call on a Friday to tell me my three bushels of peaches are ready - or when we have major plans, the corn will be ready to pick.  Murphy's law seems to always come into play when it comes to produce!  I do try to control that a little by planting different varieties.  If you check the seed package, you read how many days to maturity.  So you could plant varieties that mature earlier or later - to give yourself breathing room.  Or if I know I will have peas to do late spring, I will plant my green beans later so they won't come over the same time as the peas, or I will plant green beans as early as possible so they are done before the August produce starts.  You could plant tomatoes late if you don't want to be putting them up in August when peaches and pears are ready etc.  I have a friend who freezes her tomatoes and doesn't make them into sauce until January!

6. If at all possible - purchase a good used refrigerator and keep in the garage.  It has been a tremendous help in keeping my produce for a day or two until I can put it up.   

7.  Read lots of good gardening magazines.  I have gotten good advice and tips that way.  I like Mother Earth News magazine.  Also, I have gotten lots of great advice from my neighbor who has gardened for years.  Sometimes the way mom always did it isn't always the best or the quickest!

8.  And to build on what Stephanie said - when I can produce, my house is neglected.  It just has to be.  And I don't feel bad, I know it will get cleaned later.  Suppers are quick, and may consist of what I was canning - tomato soup - spaghetti if I was making pizza sauce, or sweet corn if I was freezing corn.  My husband sometimes has ordered pizza when he knew I was canning all day.  If at all possible, can outside to keep the mess out of the kitchen. I have always used my victoria strainer for tomato juice and applesauce, outside.  We peel all our peaches and pears, cap strawberries or seed cherries out on the deck and do all sweet corn outside.  If it's rainy, then I put up the garage door and we peel or cream corn in the garage. It makes clean up so much easier. 

Thanks Regina, next I'll share a few of my own tips that haven't been mentioned yet!

Preserving Food and Your Sanity - Part One

Here in Pennsylvania, the garden season is coming to a close. Last week we had several hard frosts and today I pulled the remaining carrots. There is still some garden clean-up to do, but the frantic days of food preserving has come to a close.

So maybe now is the wrong time to talk about food preserving, or maybe it is the right time. We can look back on the past months and make plans to improve next year.

Recently a reader sent me an email asking some questions about food preserving. Since I have had similar questions from other readers, I asked her if I could share her question here.

"We are trying to grow most of our food and put up food for the winter and spring.  We are at a disadvantage as neither of us grew up doing all of these things.  We seem to always get surprised when canning season comes and do not get everything preserved in the most timely manner.  I was wondering if you had any ideas that would help us.  Some of the things I would like to know more about  are tips for getting things preserved when everything is coming in about the same time, what methods you recommend for preserving meat, do you have a schedule of what must be done when putting up food, how many days a week do you designate for canning, how do you know how much food to put up, and what kinds of food do you recommend putting up beyond garden produce?  Are there any books that you recommend?   Do you have any ideas about keeping the house tidy and homeschooling while canning?" 

To answer her question, I turned to two friends. I had conversations with both of these ladies in the past weeks about the challenges of preserving food while still balancing all the other things that a mom needs to do. The answers they gave were so good, I'm sharing them with you, the first is from Stephanie.

Preserving Food and Your Sanity 
By Stephanie J. Leinbach
 

I don't feel like I have many answers, since I'm still figuring out how to do it myself. But here are a few things I scrambled together:

1. During canning/preserving season, the produce is urgent. The rest of my work--cooking, cleaning, etc.--is important, but not quite as urgent. My house is a mess while I preserve food. The mess will wait until I have time for it. There's only so much a body can do.

2. During the lull between planting and harvesting, do what you can to make canning easier. Freeze a few meals for quick food solutions after a day of canning. Homeschool for a month mid-summer (that's what Gina does). Make sure you have what you need to can: jars, lids, canner, etc. Plan ahead.

3. I freeze our meat, since I don't own a pressure canner. Don't freeze meat in an upright freezer, since most of them have defrost cycles that create temperature fluctuations. Use a chest freezer, or else a MANUAL defrost upright freezer, if a chest freezer is not available. (Note from Gina: This was news to me but Stephanie's husband is an appliance repairman, so she probably has inside info on this!)

4. A freezer is a homemaker's best friend. Freeze tomatoes until you have enough to process. I have tomato sauce in the freezer right now waiting for me to turn it into ketchup when life slows down. I freeze some of our applesauce, in addition to canning some. I freeze green beans, corn, blueberries, and strawberries as well.

5. Canning season is not the time to be a gourmet cook. Keep your meals simple. Get the children to roast hot dogs or some other campfire-type food. Use your slow cooker or meals you previously froze. Does your husband like to grill? Utilize your resources.

6. Even with my childhood knowledge of preserving, I still like to have my Ball Blue Book of Preserving on hand. This book is published by Ball, the makers of canning jars and supplies. Not only does it have the preserving directions I sometimes need, but it also has many recipes and ideas I've used and enjoyed.

7. Family is my most valuable resource. We Mennonites generally have extended family well-versed in the preserving rituals. We get together and work together, making the tasks lighter by sharing them. Not everyone has this blessing, but within a small family unit, this spirit of working together can be nurtured and built.

How many days a week do I devote to food preservation? Until it's done. Most produce needs to be done ASAP to preserve the best flavor. Apples are one exception; they keep well in a fridge for a while.

How much to preserve? That's a tough one. How many times a week will you eat beans or corn? Multiply that by 52, and you know how many packs or jars to put up. Keep meticulous records, so you can refer to what you did last year and the year before and compare it to what you have left over.

Beyond the basics of tomatoes, peaches, pears, and applesauce, I can ketchup, pickles, sweet relish, pizza sauce, apple pie filling, and apple butter. HOWEVER, I don't do all this every year. I have a small baby this year, and he is more important than the usual preservation regimen. This year, I canned tomato juice, peaches, and applesauce (with help from family). I have ketchup yet to do. For the rest of the usual foods, I'm simply going to use what we have left from last year and start fresh (and overwhelmed) next year.

Preserving food is a huge task. The urgency of it, the pressure of it, the long days, balancing it with the needs of a family--I'm always so relieved when it's over. It's getting easier every year; practice does help (except when a baby creates many interruptions). I've learned to be realistic. It isn't worth canning everything I possibly can at the expense of my family. This year, I asked myself what I can live without or reasonably buy when we run out of last year's supply. I preserved only what I consider absolutely necessary. Food is less important than relationships. My children and my husband need attention, too, and I'm a nursing mom--I can push myself only so far. I'm learning my limits (although not as fast as I should). That helps preserving season to be less overwhelming.

Thanks Stephanie! Tomorrow I'll share some hints from Regina. 

Wisconsin Potato Cheese Soup

I found this recipe years ago in one of my favorite cookbooks, The Complete Guide to Country Cooking. But somehow forgot about this recipe until recently.

But now that it has been re-introduced, my children keep asking for this soup. Definitely a family favorite and perfect tummy warmer!

A stick blender greatly simplifies this soup.

Wisconsin Potato Cheese Soup

1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 T butter
4 cups diced peeled potatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
dash of paprika
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
croutons or parsley

In large pan, saute celery and onion in butter. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer until tender. Cool and puree in batches in the blender OR (much easier) puree directly in the pot with a stick blender. Stir in milk and seasonings. Add cheese and heat just until melted. Garnish with croutons or parsley

How to Make Tomato Powder

I said I wouldn't put another tomato into a jar.

But I had to try one more project before closing down the garden season.

And it wasn't canning, so it didn't count. Definitely the easiest tomato preserving I have done all summer!

I have learned so much from you readers. The idea of making tomato powder came from a reader's email. She gave me permission to share some of her tips and directions with you.

First I washed and cored my tomatoes. Then I sliced them to about 1/4 inch slices. I layered the slices as close as possible (touching but not overlapping) on the dehydrator trays. I did not skin or remove the seeds of the tomatoes. Most of my tomatoes were small paste-type tomatoes but any kind will work, even cherry tomatoes!



I dried the tomatoes until they were crunchy and brittle. I wanted them to be drier than when I made sun-dried tomatoes.



Then I blended the tomatoes into a powder in my blender.



My dehydrator full of tomatoes made over a pint of tomato powder. Though it should be fine stored in a dark, cool place, I chose to store it in my freezer so that it does not absorb moisture and cake up.

In the few weeks that I have made the tomato powder, I have found it very easy to use. I especially like it for tomato paste. It is so easy to mix some powder in hot water and have instant paste. I also like adding a spoonful or so to a pot of soup.

Here is the hydration ratios that were shared with me.

Tomato Paste: 1 t. powder and 1 t. water.

Tomato Sauce: 1 t. powder and 3 t. water

Tomato Soup: 1 t. powder and 1 t. water and 2 t. cream.

Tomato Juice: 1 t. powder and 1/2  c. water or more

 

I think that the few jars of tomato powder that I have made won't last long!

 

Have you ever made tomato powder?

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Is it the fall weather?

Or a slowing down of garden preserving?

After doing very little baking all summer, I'm now in the mood for all kinds of warm, gooey baked desserts! Bring on the apple pie and the gingerbread!



This Hot Fudge Pudding Cake was one I was craving. It is so easy, though not calorie free, of course.

When you assemble the cake, you will think that you are making a mistake. Pour water over a cake batter? Can't be right! But as the cake bakes, the water, cocoa, and sugar makes its own hot fudge sauce.



Served with some vanilla ice cream and raspberries - yum!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

2 cups flour (I use whole wheat.)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 T. cocoa
1 cup milk
4 T. oil
2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, and nuts. Spread in greased 9x13 pan.

Topping:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3 1/2 cups hot water

Blend sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle over batter. Pour water over all. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hamburger Beef Jerky

I'm not a huge jerky fan. Especially the kind of jerky that takes LOTS of chewing.

But jerky is a fun snack to put in your pocket on a hike. And jerky is SO expensive. Plus I like to know what is in my meat.

Since we had just butchered beef last week, I figured it was a good time to see if I could make my own beef jerky. I chose to make the jerky with hamburger so it wouldn't be so tough to chew. I came up with my own seasoning recipe after looking at numerous other recipes. I left out the hotter spices like red pepper flakes so that my children would like it!

I mixed the seasonings with the beef and let it marinade in the fridge overnight.

 

The next morning, I cut parchment paper to fit the racks of my dehydrator. With my hands, I patted and squashed the meat onto the paper aiming for the meat to be about 1/4 inch thick. I dehydrated the jerky at 155 degrees for about six hours. I flipped the meat over half way through this time and also rotated the racks.

 

I have heard that you can dehydrate jerky in a low oven but have not tried it. Anyone know how that is done?

 

When the jerky was dry but not crunchy (it will harden a little as it cools) I took it out and cut it up with kitchen shears.The result was 2 lb of jerky. I figured that was $40 or $50 worth of jerky!

And everyone in the family claimed it was a winner. Guess I'll be making beef jerky again!

Hamburger Beef Jerky

5 lb ground beef
4 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 tsp onion powder
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
3 T brown sugar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 T liquid smoke

Mix meat with all the seasonings. Use hands to mix well. Marinade in fridge overnight.

Press onto parchment paper with hands, 1/4 inch thick. (Or use a jerky gun.)

Dry according to your dehydrator's instructions. (I did it at 155 degrees for 6-8 hours.) Flip the meat and rotate the racks halfway through drying time.

Store in freezer for long-term storage.