A Canning Curiosity

The fog rolled in this morning as I prepared for a day of canning. These vegetables were picked just yesterday and they are freshly washed and ready for the jars. My farmers grow their food without pesticides and they rely on the weather to provide sunshine and rainfall for the crops during the growing season.


I know this food is nutrient dense and I look forward to eating it when the winter has set in and fresh vegetables are no longer available from the farm.


I first became interested in canning when I saw a picture of my great grandmother, we called her Doozie, standing in front of shelves loaded with jars. There were jars of all sizes and they were filled with food that she had put up herself.


My curiosity was peaked! I started reading about canning and preserving. I found recipes galore. I learned about the water bath caner and the pressure canner. My grandmother told me stories of how her mom would can all that she could including chicken, sausage and ground beef.


For my birthday that year, I asked for a pressure canner. My citified family thought I'd lost my mind. Indeed, when that thing arrived, I began to think so myself. Undaunted, I dove in head first.


I decided on corn for my first attempt. Corn was in season so it was the freshest I could get. My kids and my nephew where put to work shucking while I prepared the jars, scraped corn from the cobs and boiled water.


Then came time for the fun part. I had read and re-read the instruction book and as I filled the canner with jars, I read it once more. This thing was scary! I had heard horror stories of people letting too much pressure build and how they blew the tops off their pressure cookers. I had an eighteen quart pressure cooker right in front of me. Perhaps my family was on to something...


The canner was filled with quart jars of sweet, summer corn. The water was beginning to bubble. I put the lid on, turned it to the locking position and waited for steam to begin venting. Sure enough, it did just what the book said it would.


After venting the steam, the cap went on and I anxiously watched the gauge as pressure began to build. I kept adjusting the fire on the stove to keep the right amount of pressure and I set my timer to know when the corn would be ready. Before long, the whole house smelled like popcorn. My kids and my nephew had long ago abandoned me in fear for their lives but I wouldn't have missed this for the world.


Finally, the time came to open the canner. Nervous and excited and the same time, I give the lid a twist. It slides to the unlocked position and comes off without incident. I got a nice, warm, corn-steam facial but other than that, no harm was done.


I used the cool jar gripper to remove the jars from the canner and set them on a towel on my counter top. A few minutes later I heard the sound that to this day, still brings a smile to my face. "Pop!" and I was hooked... "I did it!" I said to no one. Then I looked to the sky and said "did you hear that Doozie? I did it."


Canning is again on the rise as more people become concerned with their health and they realize the food they eat is directly associated with it. When you know your farmers and you buy fresh food from them and you put it up yourself, you're more likely feel healthier. At least I know we do.


When winter comes and I open that first jar of corn, what a true delight it is. It feels like summer even when the ground is blanketed in snow. Best of all, I know me and mine are being nourished with some of the best food to come forth from the earth.


I encourage everyone I know to give canning a try. I even help them get through their first batch if they want me to. I love their smile when they hear that sound and I love knowing that I've shared with them what I felt when I first saw that picture of my great grandmother in her root cellar.