This week’s I Eat Local Because I Can comes from Michelle MacKenzie of Green Bean Chronicles.  Michelle lives in the Silicon Valley with her husband, two boys, two cats and five chickens.  She’d love to be a true farm girl, but for now, satisfies herself with urban farming and preserving the harvest.

1) How long have you been canning and how did you learn?

I’ve been canning for 5 or 6 years.  My mother canned jam when I was a child but she couldn’t remember how so I resorted to Internet videos and the Ball Canning Book.

2) Tell us about your canning philosophy.  What inspires and motivates you to practice this art?

Initially, I wanted to try everything – pepper infused this and lavender flavored that.  Now, I just make what we’ll eat.  It can be the most exotic, gourmet thing in the world but if it sits on my shelf for years, it was a waste of resources.

3) What’s the best piece of advice you would give to new or novice canners?  How about advice for the seasoned canner facing burnout?

Make what you will actually use.  If you have a glut of something, by all means can it but only if you’ll use it once it is canned and only if canning is your preferred way of preserving that particular item.  For instance, I find canning tomatoes to be a pain.  Freezing them is much easier, quicker and they taste just as good.  As for burnout, I’ve started trading canned goods with friends to add some diversity to the pantry without the effort.

4) Care to share a favorite canning recipe? 

I go straight-forward and usually just follow recipes on the pectin box or Ball Canning Book.  Also, the Pick Your Own site.

Over the weekend, I made some ricotta.  As usual, I was left with whey and wanted to do something new with it.  I’d had a craving for some rice pudding for a while and figured I’d give it a go with whey instead of milk or cream.  It worked wonderfully, giving the pudding a delightfully tart flavor alongside the sweet and spicy notes.

Chai Spiced Whey Pudding

• 4 Cups Whey (Milk or Milk Alternatives will also work)
• 1 1/2 Cups Rice, cooked (any will do)
• 1/3 Cup Honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 3 Green Cardamom Pods
• 2 Whole Star Anise
• 1 Vanilla Bean, split
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/2 Cup Raisins (optional)

Put the cardamom pods and star anise into a tea ball or tie into a muslin spice bag.  Combine everything but the raisins into a medium saucepan.  Over medium heat, simmer the mixture for about 20 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  It will thicken as it cools.  Pour into dish or individual containers and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

I think, I’m like most gardeners or at least like most of the gardeners that I know in that I like to talk about the garden – alot.  Honestly, I’m constantly captivated and amazed by not only what I grow but what others grow too.  I want to know what people are doing in their gardens and I want to see the gardens or photos if they live far away.  I’m blessed with a few friends local and far away who indulge me, friends who give tours:

My friend Diana’s peony.  Everything about Diana’s garden is magical and wonderous.  The type of magic that only occurs when someone has been cultivating it for over 20 years.

There are the online friends who live in far away who give me virtual tours of their gardens.  They send emails full of photos and words of pride about their gardens.  I can’t tell you how precious the real life and virtual tours are to me.  These same friends tolerate my endless ramblings about what’s happening in my garden and the latest happenings of our bees.  These friends share advice, triumphs, and heartaches.

These same friends both local and far away share seeds and plants with me too.

Namaste sent me some White Currant Tomato seeds months ago.  They’re doing great in the greenhouse and I’m looking forward to putting them in the garden in a few weeks.  I’m also looking forward to eating and saving seed to keep a piece of her beautiful spirit in my garden for years to come.

Each time I plant or harvest something shared with me from someone else, I feel part of some incredibly blessed web.  I know it sounds so very hippy dippy even to my ears but in the end I am part of this amazing tribe of gardeners and that does indeed make me blessed.

So tell me, what’s happening in your garden?  Feel free to share links to photos, I want to see them.

Later this week, Jeff and I will celebrate 12 years together.  It’s been an amazing 12 years, amazing truly and I so look forward to the next 12 years.  The fact that he’s put up with some of my idiosyncrasies all of these years is a testament to his enduring patience, love, and dedication to the commitment we’ve made.

I have quite a few quirks, I suppose we all do, but when I look at mine from the outside, well let’s just say I realize that idiosyncrasy is putting it mildly.  Living with me means that almost every flat surface has books on it most of the time.

If not books, then journals full of my notes, recipes, dreams, to-do lists and more.

There are generally bottles full of plants and some kind of liquid (alcohol, vinegar, oil, etc.) steeping in an experiment to make tinctures, cordials, oils, vinegars and more.  Some of them work, some of them don’t.

It also means I’ve never met a glass jar that I didn’t love.

Though, Jeff did find those gallon jars at a yard sale for me – 50 cents a piece.  I suppose maybe that’s the trick of surviving 12 years together, we’ve adopted each other’s quirks.  I know I’ve picked up a few of his over the years.  So, rather than question or feel strange about my quirks or get irritated over his, I’m just going to embrace them and him so that the next 12 years is indeed amazing.

About two years ago, I discovered Tattler Canning Lids.  I was so very excited when my first order arrived, that I immediately tested them out and wrote a review.  If you’re not familiar with Tattlers, let me just say that they are reusable canning lids.  They are plastic but they are BPA free.  I think they’re amazing and we use them for all of our canning needs these days.  A few months back they ran an incredible special and we bought 200 lids (100 wide mouth and 100 regular).  They came in bulk, but we store them in those round mailing tubes and it works perfect.

I contacted the folks at Tattler and told them about the I Eat Local Because I Can project and they graciously agreed to give away 1 dozen wide mouth and 1 dozen regular lids and rings to a lucky reader!

To be entered in the giveaway simply leave a comment on this post.  You have until Thursday May 17th at 5 PM Mountain Standard Time to enter.  You do need to be in the United States for this particular giveaway. 

Good Luck and Happy Canning!

My recent favorites:

• At the Hive Entrance - A free, downloadable beekeeping book that explains how to “see” what’s going on inside the hive non-invasively–just by observing the sights and sounds at the hive entrance.
• The Crisis of Civilization – A documentary investigating global crises that are converging.
• Pea Shoot Pesto with Spring Garlic
• Herb Infused Jams – These recipes are for refrigerating but if you know what you’re doing you could easily can it up.
• Hawthorn Flower Medicine

As always please feel free to share your favorites in the comments.

The first of our I Eat Local Because I Can Interviews comes from Liz Segran. Liz recounts her many experiments in the kitchen at Jam Experiments.  Her blog is full of recipes and reviews of other small, artisanal jam-makers.   She recently received a PhD in classical Indian literature and lives in Cambridge, MA, with her fiance.

 1)  How long have you been canning and how did you learn?

When I was little, we lived in France and would spend our summers going to little farms to pick berries. I have fond memories of hot days spent among the patches of fruit, my fingers sticky and red from all the berries I had eaten along the way. It was heavenly. Afterwards, I’d go home and enjoy the sweet smells of jam-making emanating from the kitchen as my mother would make vats of jam. In my early twenties, I was not particularly interested in cooking, and then one day, in a bout of nostalgia, I decided to make some jam of my own. Jam-making floods me with wonderful emotions: I soak in the memories of my childhood, the creativity of mixing flavors and the sheer pleasure of seeing the colors and textures combine.

2) Tell us about your canning philosophy.  What inspires and motivates you to practice this art?

Making jams should be a challenging experience. In its most basic form, jam-making is very simple: it involves mixing fruit with sugar. Making a high-quality jam, however requires some skill, knowledge and experience. I have enjoyed the process of reading about various artisanal and traditional techniques. I have enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen with various ways of using citrus pith and pips to avoid having to use commercial pectin.

Also, the quality of the jam depends on the quality of the fruit. It is important to go out and find the best, seasonal fruit you can get your hands on. After all, to stay true to the spirit of jam-making, the whole point is to preserve your favorite fruit that is in season, so you can enjoy it for months afterwards, when that fruit is nowhere to be found.

3)  What’s the best piece of advice you would give to new or novice canners?  How about advice for the seasoned canner facing burnout?

To the novice jam-maker I would say, get your hands dirty! Spend plenty of time with your fruit, cutting it up, seeing what the various parts of the fruit can bring to the jam. Mostly, jam making is about experimenting! This is why our blog is called Jam-Experiments (www.jam-experiments.com). There are infinite combinations of fruit and flavors to bring together in a jam!

To the seasoned canner I would say, canning should be fun! If it isn’t fun anymore, don’t do it! However, remember what brought you to the experience in the first place. Do you like the idea of eating seasonally? Do you like being able to give cans of food to your friends? Your relationship with canning, like your relationship with your spouse, often involves remembering what brought you together in the first place.

4)  Care to share a favorite canning recipe?

One of my favorite jams was an interesting pear jam, made with vanilla beans and elderflower liquor. Pears are among my favorite fruit. This jam allows me to taste the soft sweetness of pears all year long. Elderflower is also one of my favorite flavors. It is not very common in the US, but in the UK, it is very common in beverages. These two flavors marry beautifully. Here is the link to our experiment.

Yesterday, I finished off the cherries in our stash.  Jeff calls the pantry our stash, I rather like that.  Anyway, yesterday we finished off all the cherries we picked last summer.  I remember thinking at the time that we were picking too many, that the stores would be with us for years.  I, obviously, was wrong.

We’ve finished off 28 quarts of cherries in an extra light sugar syrup, 14 pints of brandied cherries, 3 gallons of frozen cherries, and 1 gallon of dried cherries.  We won’t be able to pick any more until at least July.  They were yummy while they lasted.  The frozen ones were extremely yummy in smoothies.

I suppose this year we’ll pick more than the 80 pounds we picked last year.  It seems crazy to think of those kinds of numbers, but it is exactly this kind of activity that allows me to Eat Local Because I Can.

This summer when those amazing Flathead Cherries ripen up, we’ll be harvesting and preserving more.  This year we’ll do less in brandy and maybe freeze more.

If you’re local and interested in learning how to preserve your own fruit stash, be sure to check out my upcoming classes.  There will also be lots more canning information coming your way here as we move the fruitful season.

“The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.” ~ St. John Chrysostom

If you’ve run into me lately or happen to be a friend or family member or follow me on Facebook, you might now that Jeff and I decided to make the leap into beekeeping this year.  I mentioned it a time or two here as well, I know.  I’m excited and that’s an understatement.  We ordered a nuc and it arrived on Saturday.  It was a rainy, cold day but we made the best of it.  Our friend, Hailey, came over and gave us moral support and an extra hand as we dove right into our first bee adventure.

The rain stopped just before dusk and we moved the girls from their cardboard hive into the one Jeff built for them.  Getting them settled was fairly easily and way less eventful than we expected.

A few days later, they seem to be doing well and we’re fascinated by the bees.  We watch them flying in and out completely captivated by the newest members of Two Frog Home.  There are plenty of dandelions in our area and we can tell they’re coming back loaded.  We’re supplementing with sugar-water for the time being but hopefully that won’t last too long.

Have I mentioned that I’m excited?  Oh my, I can’t wait to see how the girls help with our garden as we get going this season.  Anyone have a bit of advice they’d like to share?  Maybe something you wish someone had told you when you got started on your beekeeping adventures.

“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions.” ~ Khalil Gibran

My life is filled with some pretty beautiful moments and some incredibly strong and tender people.  Sometimes the sheer force of that realization can bring me to my knees.  I know just how blessed I am and I am grateful.  Grateful for moments filled with:

~ Simple beauty found in flowers the deer have chosen to ignore this year.

~ Friends filling our kitchen with their spirits and laughter and leaving behind gifts of homemade wine, homemade soaps, and plants from their gardens and coldframes.

~ Chats filled with gardening knowledge shared among old and new friends alike.

~ Standing hand-in-hand with the man who shares his life with me and watching bees fly in and out of a hive in our garden.

~ Excitement for the gardening and food preservation season ahead.

How about you?  What moments are you enjoying?