Putting Up

That's the Southern term for canning. "Putting Up" I checked this great book out from the library and it's teaching me how to transform my kitchen into a home canning fortress! I'm so excited. I'm not talking about canning pickled beets, or pickled asparagus. I want to can apple sauce, strawberry jam, berry syrup, peaches, pears, marinara sauce, and other unknown can-able yummies. This book has the 1-2-3's of canning in the first section, and a month by month guide of what to can with recipes in the second section. The author Stephen Palmer Dowdney explains one of the reasons for canning...

"The quality of commercial products has continued to escalate. However, when using the word 'quality,' I am referring to the fancy glass packaging, eye-catching labels, and those special additives put into maintain color and 'freshness.' All this might appear to be fine, but the actual taste of the products we purchase has not improved. In fact, as the complexities of industrialization and competition have increased, the taste factor, in many cases, has eroded. The pretty package and the fancy label do not matter to our palate."

He goes on to say that there are four ways manufacturers can compete: advertising, price, label, and container. Taste isn't even in competition. He also says that our ancestors would not tolerate some of the foods we are accustomed to eating. Preservatives, fresheners, and chemicals take the flavor and nutrition right out of the food.

I'm not turning into a health food crazy. But he really has a point. I'm going to get my hands on the freshest, juiciest fruits and berries available. I'm going to eat up all I can, and can what I can't. YaY!

Wish me luck, I've never done this before.