It’s the end of the harvest and our storehouse is full to overflowing. Here are some highlights from this year’s garden: We got a bumper crop of blackberries and Nanking cherries. Gallons and gallons of blackberries and cherries in the freezer. Plus a couple batches of jam and several pies. Our apple tree produced a…

This is a really busy time of year. Right now I have garden produce filling the house every day. (That’s why I am a few days late getting this posted.) But I love it. This is when the summer garden is at its best. But it can also be a frantic time trying to get…

Man has been drying food for millennia. It should be an important part of preserving your food. If I had only one way to preserve my food, only one way to build up my food storage, I would go with dehydrating. As much as I like the taste of frozen food and the convenience of…

We’ll talk more about canning later in the year, but since we have a goal this month of Learning a New Skill, I thought I’d mention canning as a good skill to learn. Once you learn to can, you can be canning something almost every month, putting lots of ready-made dinners into your pantry. Which…

Remember back in November when turkeys were on sale for a ridiculously low price? You bought a a couple extras, didn’t you? A 28-lb turkey will yield about 7 qt jars of meat plus 7 pts of broth. That’s a lot of ready-to-heat meals from one turkey. But what if you didn’t buy any extra…

First, a short history In the 1860’s, a tinsmith named John L. Mason invented what we now call the Mason jar—a glass jar with a threaded lip and a reusable metal lid. Since then, this homemaker’s wonder has allowed people all over the world to preserve fruit, pickles, relishes and jams. Even though people of that…

Let’s make canning less of a chore Canning can be a pretty overwhelming task, especially if you want to put up enough food to last your family all year. But if you have the right tools for the job, you can make the job a lot easier, saving your hours of work and headache. Let’s…

Making homemade vinegar is a good way to make use of fruit scraps and it is so easy to do. Of course, we are all familiar with apple cider vinegar but don’t stop there. You can make vinegar with almost any fruit: pears, apricots, peaches, plums and even pineapple. What Fruit to Use Vinegar is…

This week you will probably see celery sold for a ridiculously low price. But you’re only going to get one, maybe two because, after all, how much can you really use before it goes bad? Well, I’m going to get eight bunches of celery. Because this is the perfect time to make celery powder. And…

Canning can be the backbone of your food storage plans and is a very safe method for preserving food if you follow tested and safe canning directions. Please do not take any shortcuts. For the latest information on canning, please consult reliable, up-to-date sources, such as the USDA.  What do I need to start canning? There are…

Man has used salt to brine or fermenting vegetables for millennia. It is one of the easiest ways to preserve the goodness of vegetables all year long. Sauerkraut is one of the easiest foods you can preserve. There are two ways to make sauerkraut: in a big batch that you later process in a water…

You have so much good food available to you this season, now is the time to learn (or improve) canning skills. First, get your equipment Canning doesn’t need to cost a lot. Just start with a water bath canner and a box of jars. Here’s my list of the important canning tools that I use.…

There’s not much that you really need to get started canning–a canner with rack and jars with 2-piece lids. And maybe a jar lifter, magnetic lid wand, funnel and timer. All of this can cost you as little as $10 if you buy it at rummage sales or thrift stores or as much as $50-75…

Remember the FIFO rule: First In, First Out. This shelf life chart will also help you keep your pantry up to date. Time to fill your pantry You’ve been working on expanding your food storage all year. Hopefully you have a good three-month supply of regular food as well as a good start on long-term…

That’s right. This time of year, turkey is the best meat bargain you can find. I can hear you right now: “Three turkeys?!?! That’s just crazy. We’ll never eat that much.” Well, I hope you do. Turkey is not only a very healthy, but if you cook it and freeze it in portions or can…

This last week I finished making our family’s favorite: Sri Racha. All the men in our family love this spicy condiment and chances are your’s do too. It’s on our table at almost every meal.  Last year for Christmas stocking stuffers, I bought sri racha key-chain bottles and filled it with my homemade sauce. Now they…