You’ve heard us say it before – vegetables and other low acidity foods must be canned in pressure canners in order to reach temperatures high enough to kill harmful microorganisms that would otherwise grow. Many consumers typically think of tomatoes as highly acidic foods. However, due to several factors, including ease in harvesting and consumer […]
home food preservation
Prepare to Preserve: Pressure Canner Testing
Finally, summer is here and your garden may be offering a bounty of fresh produce. If you plan to preserve your harvest throughout the season by using a pressure canner, one of the most important things that you can do in preparation for canning season is to get your pressure canner’s gauge tested for accuracy. […]
Just Because You Can . . .
I have a fellow co-worker whose favorite saying is “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” This piece of advice applies to a wide variety of topics from using expired food to standing on the top of a ladder. In the world of food preservation, we can easily apply this to many techniques that […]
Tips for Freezing Fresh Herbs
Fresh herbs are one of the many joys of springtime. They add wonderful, bright flavor to your foods and can make an otherwise colorless food colorful! (Think chives on a baked potato). Whether you’re buying bunches of parsley from the grocery store, or harvesting rows of basil leaves, we all have found ourselves with more herbs […]
Ready , Set, Plant…..
I hear the birds and I know spring is on its way. Buried under the mounds of white, the grass is just waiting to grow and when those signs appear, I know it’s time to think about a garden. Tempting juicy tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob and all the peppers or zucchini I can […]
Winter Comfort Foods – Soups and Stews
During the cold days of late winter, families often rely on soups and stews as a staple of meal planning. Whether fixing an old family favorite or trying that new recipe you recently found on-line or in a magazine, we often find ourselves with more food than our family needs for one meal. Why not […]