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I know the term "food preservation" is a hot topic right now. Yet in the Old Testament, in the book of Ecclesiastes, verse 1:9, it states, "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new." ESv
No truer words could have been spoken when describing food preservation. Folks have been preserving food for as long as food has grown on this earth. The only things that have changed are the methods of food preservation.
For me, well, I have been a food preservationist since I was young enough to snap beans and clean strawberries for my mother. What I didn't know then was those hours in the kitchen "puttin' up" food was going to come with a title one day...Food Preservationist. All the hours I stood next to mom and dad, wrapping meat in white freezer paper getting the meat ready for our large stand-up freezer, or carrying those jars of canned cherries or applesauce to the basement, would one day lead to a love of preserving food, while teaching others to do the same.
Growing up in the mid 1960s, "puttin' up" food was usually driven by the season. Strawberry season came early in the summer. We needed to get the strawberries from the grower, washed to preserve them in jam or enjoy fresh strawberry pie for the few weeks the season lasted. August meant corn season, and bushels of corn needed to be husked, canned and carried to the basement cold storage. Potatoes were dug late in summer and stored in big galvanized garbage cans for winter use.
Fast forward 60 years, now in the year 2022, food preservation is done a bit differently. Much of our food is not preserved in the home kitchen. No longer is strawberry season only a few weeks in the spring...we can get strawberries in the frozen food section at any grocery store. Jam making isn't reserved for the spring season, we can make it any time of the year, that is if it is made at home at all. Now, most folks buy their corn in a can or frozen in the store and potatoes in five-pound bags whenever they need them.
Yet, I am still the girl (now a much older and wiser version of the same girl) in the kitchen surrounded by all those jars, steaming water baths, pounds and piles of fruits and vegetables just waiting to be preserved for enjoying in the winter months. Food preservation has always and will forever be a huge part of my life.
I've never stopped puttin' up food. The types of food I've learned to put up have changed drastically in the last dozen years or so. For instance, I love to can my own mandarin oranges and my dehydrator has become a staple appliance in my kitchen.
I have taught hundreds of women and men to "put up" food. I think that now, I love to teach food preservation almost as much as actually puttin' up my own food. I have developed classes I teach for many types of foods, preserved in many different ways. Each time I teach a class, I am always inspired by the student, given fresh ideas, and a renewed love of food preservation. Here is a sampling of my classes:
Jam making
Pressure canning chicken
Freezer meals
Canning fruit and pie fillings
I am available and would love to teach more folks the art of food preservation. If you would like to learn more about what food preservation can be for you, contact me, I would love to discuss ideas of how it could be used in your life.
I also have my FOOD PRESERVATION LOG for sale in my Etsy Shop, check it out at Food Preservation Log - Etsy
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