Putting Food By

There is this great book, Putting Food By that will help you with stocking your larder with a cornucopia of garden delights. From this book you will learn how to pickle and can and dry and salt, etc. It’s a must for anyone who wants a kitchen that feeds the family all winter long. When I lived in Yakima there was such an abundance of fruit from roadside stands, seconds that were cheap. Big old peaches with lumpy spines, misshapen tomatoes, gangly cukes, and cherries that are usually only processed for ice cream (nearly as large as plums and sweeter than any cherry you’ve ever eaten), all for ridiculously low prices. I canned rack after rack of sparkling jars, brilliant peaches soaked in brandy, beets pickled in brine and sugar, pears, prunes, & dill pickles. All of the jars were stowed away in the cupboard next to the stove, a lovely sight to see.
Feeding the family in the 70s tailed the back-to-the land movement, brown rice and hand ground wheat berries, home grown vegetables and chickens in the yard. Wheat bread rising in a bowl on the counter and trays of cherries and tomatoes drying on screens in the sun. It wasn’t easy work. There was the goat to milk first—just after Jack went off to the golf course to tend the greens and the baby was still asleep—irrigation systems whooshing across the valley while I nuzzled my face into my Nubian’s wide side, smelling her lovely goatiness. She gave a gallon of milk a day, milk both my daughter and husband drank. I wasn’t fond of it, and it hasn’t been until lately that I’ve been willing to explore the creamy goat cheeses on the market. Pretty good.
Putting Food By became my summer Bible. I combed through that book daily during the growing season. It is still part of my collection—stained and spine-broken—although it has been a long time since I’ve canned. I may never can again, as it does take strength to lift boxes of fruit and racks of hot canning jars. And it takes time, all the boiling of jars, paring fruit, boiling syrup and brine. It’s worth it for many folks. Me, I’ll just buy fresh fruit year around at the co-op.
Ciao!