Eat First

Blueberry Maple Jam: from the fields at Critz Farms to the canning jars

I could have simply bought blueberries somewhere for my Blueberry Maple Jam. Instead, I seized the moment and headed out to Critz Farms, south of Cazenovia, to pick them fresh. It took about an hour and a half to pick a couple quarts plus a pint -- more than enough for jam (and more for my freezer stash).

I had the place to myself on a mostly sunny Friday afternoon, and headed to the back of the rows to "pick forward." It as there I hit the Mother Lode of perfectly ripe, purplish-blue berries.

 

It was relatively cool out, with a nice breeze, so I washed the berries the night before and air-dried them in a colander, picking off small stems here and there. I also assembled my gear and tools the night before: jars, lids, rings, pot and small pan so I would be ready to roll first thing in the morning.

 

Oops -- I forgot to snap a photo of the jars! Since this was a small batch of jam, I placed a thick kitchen towel at the bottom of a pot, then added the jars and plenty of water. A towel adds some padding, so the jars aren't rattling in the pot of boiling water.

 

The recipe was a new one to me: Blueberry Maple Syrup Jam, from "Preserving by the Pint'' by Marisa McClellan. McClellan is a food writer, food blogger ("Food in Jars'') and Canning Goddess. Keep reading for more on the book. Full disclosure: Kimberly Cook of Cook's Maple in Sherburne, gave me a half-pint jug of dark amber maple syrup to try in the recipe. In exchange, she gets a jar of jam.

 

If you're new to canning and making jam, blueberries are an excellent fruit to start with.

 

They're naturally high in pectin, so jam made with blueberries is sure to "set up" nicely. Here, the jam is not yet ready, but it is beginning to get thick and coat the wooden spatula.

 

The jam has just four ingredients: Blueberries, maple syrup, brown sugar and lemon juice. It took about 15 minutes of cook time at medium-high heat. I like how some of the blueberries are still somewhat intact in the jar, giving it nice texture.

 

In the end, we have four quarter-pint and one half-pint jar of jam --  the small jars are great for holiday gift giving.

 

At first taste, the Blueberry Maple Jam does not "scream" maple. The maple flavor is subtle and may become more pronounced as the jam settles in the jar. But the flavor is present just enough to maybe make you say, "Mmmm.... What's in there?'' I'm looking forward to swirling the jam in our favorite vanilla yogurt, and spooning it on top of pancakes or waffles on a winter morning.

 

A few words about "Preserving By the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces''

 

We are a two-person household. Two people can only eat so much jam and jelly and so many pickled vegetables. That's one reason I love this book and its small-batch recipes.

 

The other is Marisa McClellan's overall approach to canning. She uses no fancy equipment and gear, just kitchen basics like pots and pans and spatulas and tongs. McClellan's jams are lower in sugar than traditional recipes and do not call for added pectin. The recipes are straightforward, beautifully photographed and grouped seasonally -- to encourage the reader to "put up" in all seasons, not strictly in summer.

 

The thing I hear most often when I tell people that we can is that they are intimidated by the process and freeze in fear when they see words like "boiling water bath." This book walks you through the steps in way that's easy to understand and gets you excited to try things that are new and different -- like Raspberry Habanero Jam, Blueberry Maple Jam and Pickled Pepper Rings.

 

If you've been thinking about canning, pick up a copy of "Preserving by the Pint'' and take the plunge!

 

Saving the season(s): Learn how at iCan2012

When I tell people that we like to make jam and jelly, put-up wax beans in jars and can tomato sauce and chili sauce, the response is usually one of keen interest and, sometimes, intimidation -- even among highly skilled cooks.

In the words of one friend: “I’m afraid. I don’t want to poison or kill somebody.’’

That’s not likely. There are very few cases of botulism, or sickness from eating homemade jam, preserves, pickles and the like in this country. Yet fear of canning is common.

In days gone by, we had our Mothers and Grandmothers to guide us through Canning 101. Today? Not so much. The next best thing, a day-long educational event designed to allay canning concerns and jitters – and instill positive, can-do attitudes about canning, freezing and dehydration – is coming up in Central New York. Just in time for the harvest season.

iCan2012 will be held Saturday, August 11 at Liverpool Community Church. Advance registration is required.

The day of learning begins with a session titled “The Nuts and Bolts of Canning,’’ focusing on canning tips, tools and procedures. After that, there is a menu of workshops to choose from, including Small-Batching Canning; Shivers! Freezer Food; Jams and Jellies; Ahhh, Tomatoes!; Hanging With Herbs and more.

For an additional $50, 10 workshop attendees can enjoy a private, hands-on canning session on Aug. 10 with instructor Marisa McLellan, assist her as she makes Dilly Beans and Spiced Nectarine Jam and take home a jar of each.  McLellan is the writer, photographer and recipe creator behind the blog Food In Jars. Her first cookbook, also titled “Food in Jars,’’ was published earlier this year.

iCan2012 is a project of my former Post-Standard colleague Nancy Fasoldt. She’s an advocate for eating locally and healthily, from our backyard, and has been planning iCan for months with a crew of friends and fellow canning enthusiasts.

For those whose inclination is to say “Oh, I don’t can; there are only two of us at home,’’ take note: One of McLellan’s sessions at iCan2012 focuses on “Small Batch Canning.’’

I like Nancy’s “big” idea, also endorsed by McLellan, of friends or family members canning as a collaborative effort, with the reward being fellowship as well as wholesome food.

…“If four or five of us pitch in to buy, say, a bushel of tomatoes,’’ Nancy says, “we can spend the afternoon together canning.  By the time we are done, we've had a great girlfriend time and we get to go home with four or five quarts of farm-fresh tomatoes to eat in mid-winter. Yum.’’

Details:

What: iCan2012

When: 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Aug. 11

Where: Liverpool Community Church, 800 Fourth St., Liverpool

Cost: $40

Registration: Required. Deadline: Aug. 1

Everything you need to know: CLICK HERE

You might also be interested in reading: Yes, We CAN!

 

Yes we CAN!

 
Maybe you see the shelves of canning jars and lids and assorted gear at your farm market or grocery store and think to yourself: “Canning? No can do! It’s not worth the time and energy.’’

Yes, canning is precision cooking (see Organic Gardening’s home canning basics). And it is a bit of a time suck. Begin a canning project and everything else in life is takes a back seat.

So why do we can when we could buy?

There’s no one answer to that question, but as sure as summer goes by in the blink of an eye, we do it. Every year. It has become a bit of a compulsion. A way to seize the moment – and what’s in season – and make it last.

The question has become: Why not can?

Here are seven reasons you might find us carrying home a flat of late-harvest tomatoes, daydreaming about doing something – but what?!? -- with local apples, bathing cucumber slices in brine and spices for days on end and sweating over the stove:

 

1. Preserving the local harvest 

The same things that draw us to the Regional Market and other local markets in the first place – connecting with farmers for fresh produce, learning about their crops and knowing where our food comes from – inspire us to get out the canning pot and jars.

Last week, while speaking to a friendly farmer from Sodus who proudly showed off the sun-ripened, blushing nectarines he brought to market – I knew my next batch of jam would be nectarine jam.

2. Connecting with the past

The sight of strawberries in June and tomatoes and Concord grapes in late summer takes me back to the days when Mom canned. Boy, did she can: Jams, jellies, pickles, tomato sauce, chili sauce, you name it. Her mother canned, and so did her mother’s mother, no doubt.

A few recreational jam sessions today is a walk in the park compared to the days when, for many women (and men), canning was a ritual born of absolute economic necessity.

3. Eco awareness

The reuse-recycle aspect is part of the appeal of canning – the box of jars we buy today will get lots of mileage: They can be used again and again.

But it’s more than that. Growing something or purchasing something homegrown at the market, bringing it into your kitchen, putting it in jars and storing it for later use reduces “food miles’’ – the distance food travels to reach our plates. Canning is one more way to eat local.

4. Save money, honey

Nine jars of Sodus nectarine jam cost all of $5 to make. That’s the cost of the fruit, essentially. You can’t beat that!

On hand already are the other necessary ingredients (sugar, lemons for juice) and gear (jars, lids and rings).

5. Personal satisfaction

Hearing the “ping’’ of lids as they seal is almost as good as hearing the pop of a wine or Champagne cork.

Seeing the growing assortment of food you’ve made lined up on shelves in the basement? Now that’s food you feel good about. 

6. Good taste

Let’s not forget the appeal of shmearing plum-vanilla or strawberry-rhubarb jam on something hot out of the toaster or oven on a cold winter day. Take that, Smuckers! There is simply no comparison.

7. Gifts from the kitchen – and the heart

Stocked shelves of homemade jams, jellies and pickles ensure we have host/hostess gifts at hand – and something to put a pretty bow on for everyone on our holiday list.

Rare is the person who doesn’t like to receive something you’ve made by hand. Hopefully they’ll give your “product” a positive review – and return to you a clean jar to use again.

You, too, can CAN!

A canned version of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que pickles

Boiling water, hot food, scalding-hot jars and lids, perfect timing, critical moments, fear of failure: It's so easy to come up with reasons NOT to "put food by''  that we sometimes forget all the reasons IN FAVOR of doing so. 

Such as: The promise of real, wholesome food, using produce at its peak of freshness with no additives and preservatives, prepared by you in your kitchen and enjoyed for months to come.

Canning is not rocket science but it is a project. Invest in a good canning reference book, like the classic "Ball Blue Book,'' or check a book out of the library. You'll also need a large pot with a lid and canning rack.

Stop in L&M Wines, Etc., at the Regional Market Commons in Syracuse for jars and lids. Do this on a Thursday or a Saturday, then head over to the market and select something in season now that you would really, really enjoy eating in the middle of the winter: Peaches? Plums? Blackberries? That makes canning less of a chore and more of a labor of love.

Need inspiration? Here are my Top 5 reasons to can.

Tart cherries, grown in Oswego County, rinsed and ready for jam.

1. Capture summer in a jar. Those jars of strawberry-rhubarb and peach-ginger jam stowed away on shelves in the basement are going to remind me of warm summer days come January and February.

2. Know your food and where it comes from. The cucumbers in my pickles came from a sweet, elderly Oswego County farmer at the Regional Market, who very nicely tossed in a few extras for me. The strawberries in this year's jam came from Skaneateles, the rhubarb from Suzanne's mother's garden in Baldwinsville. The ingredients didn't have to travel very far to get in a jar. The sweetener is sugar, rather than the corn syrup found in supermarket jams and jellies, and there's not very much of it.  That's food I feel good about.

3. Cheap thrills. Preserving food is inexpensive. The cucumbers that yielded 12 jars of pickles cost $3, plus a few more dollars for pickling spices and vinegar. I bought two boxes of jars this year (about $20), but some years it's necessary only to purchase lids.

The biggest investment is time,  but there is something very rewarding about making jams, sauces and pickles, and hearing the "ping" of canning lids sealing properly, ensuring good (and safe!) eating down the road.

Cherry-Vanilla Jam, inverted to encourage proper seal.

4. Canned goods make great gifts. My uncle once said of presents: "If I can't eat it, drink it or read it, I don't want it.'' I laughed, but there is something to be said for that, whether the recipient is 80-something or 30-something. Friends and family members on my gift list are always pleased to receive something homemade. Sometimes they even rave about what's in a given jar!

Blueberry-Pineapple Jam and a favorite cookbook.

5. Reuse and recycle. Empty jars usually make their way back, and they go out again later in the year, with something new and different and, hopefully, delicious in them.

It's a cycle that's very satisfying.

Jam session: Cherry-Vanilla, in progress.