Canning is probably not the best hobby to pick up when you are moving in a month, but I've take it up anyway. And, it's probably not the best idea to invest in a new hobby when you're next paycheck isn't until November. Oh well, too late.
I have decided to hop on the canning bandwagon, or, as the LA Times calls it, the canning movement. Over the past few years, after reading books like The Omnivores Dilemma or Food Matters and watching Food, Inc., I've been inspired to try to reduce my carbon footprint (going vegetarian really helped) and do my best to eat locally. So taking up canning and learning to preserve food seemed like the next logical step. Plus, for the same reasons that I try my best not to eat processed foods, canning is appealing because there are no artificial ingredients that I can't pronounce.
Armed with my brand new copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and a couple books I checked out from the library, I spent the better part of the weekend putting up food (that's the canning lingo). This wasn't a chore though, it was actually fun and relaxing. The first thing I made was strawberry jam, which is amazing. Then I canned tomatoes, which is something that my mother did when I was a child. (As a kid, I hated the smell of tomatoes, but now I adore it. I wasn't a fan of tomatoes back then, and pizza sauce and marinara sauce didn't count). I found canning tomatoes to be delightfully messy. I also canned some quick pickled cucumber spears, which I am still waiting to try out. And earlier this afternoon, I put up some roasted red peppers. Drew said that if there was an award for most food canned one the first attempt, I would win it. Well, all this delicious food is enough of a reward. I can't wait to dig in!
I have decided to hop on the canning bandwagon, or, as the LA Times calls it, the canning movement. Over the past few years, after reading books like The Omnivores Dilemma or Food Matters and watching Food, Inc., I've been inspired to try to reduce my carbon footprint (going vegetarian really helped) and do my best to eat locally. So taking up canning and learning to preserve food seemed like the next logical step. Plus, for the same reasons that I try my best not to eat processed foods, canning is appealing because there are no artificial ingredients that I can't pronounce.
Armed with my brand new copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and a couple books I checked out from the library, I spent the better part of the weekend putting up food (that's the canning lingo). This wasn't a chore though, it was actually fun and relaxing. The first thing I made was strawberry jam, which is amazing. Then I canned tomatoes, which is something that my mother did when I was a child. (As a kid, I hated the smell of tomatoes, but now I adore it. I wasn't a fan of tomatoes back then, and pizza sauce and marinara sauce didn't count). I found canning tomatoes to be delightfully messy. I also canned some quick pickled cucumber spears, which I am still waiting to try out. And earlier this afternoon, I put up some roasted red peppers. Drew said that if there was an award for most food canned one the first attempt, I would win it. Well, all this delicious food is enough of a reward. I can't wait to dig in!
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