Kelly Rossiter
DCL
When I first thought about preserving food, making jams and pickles seemed like a delightful prospect. Now that I've been reading about it, it seems more like a daunting prospect. I've been reading Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard which is apparently the book to use. I especially liked the "small batch" part of title. I just can't see myself purchasing bushels of produce to put up like my Italian and Portaguese neighbours do. In August my whole neighbourhood is redolent with the aroma of cooking tomato sauce and roasting peppers. Some of these people have turned their garages into canning kitchens. I'm thinking that making a couple of jars of this and that is more my speed, just until I see if I can do this successfully. After all, if you wreck a couple of small jars of something, you can shrug your shoulders and move on, if you wreck twenty or thirty jars of something, it would make you cry. So, in the midst of reading about spores and botulism, I am cautiously moving forward, toward the day I actually put my hand to this task.
Today I'm going to talk about the four ways to preserve food. Later in the week I'll review the equipment that is required and then I'll be walking you through the actual process of preserving. After that I'll try to preserve something.
