At Ricker Hill Farms Organic Pick-Your-Own
in Turner, Maine
Tradition! Apple picking with dear friends. Though, goodness, the apple picking usually happens in October or late September. But this weekend, we found ourselves there in the late 90 degree days of August...picking apples. The strangely mild winter followed by a long summer in New England has meant that most crops are early (and often shorter) this year. The apples are no exception. And so we made the journey - good friends, good apple picking, lots of laughter, and very silly, growing (so fast) kids, accompanied by tractor rides and the treat of freshly-made old-fashioned donuts, of course.
And now onto the applesauce, apple butter, apple pie, and apple jam making! The combination of the apples and tomatoes piling up in my kitchen right now - waiting to be preserved - is a little bewildering. But I'll take it as a wonderfully abundant kind of bewildering.
And so - to the kitchen I go - there's a whole lot of canning to do today!
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I've been asked a lot this year for my favorite resources for preserving food. Some of them are:
Putting Food By
Ball Blue Book of Preserving
The River Cottage Preserves Handbook (new this year!)
Nourishing Traditions
I used the boiling water method with a Water Bath Canner for years, which is great and easy. But this spring I made the leap to a Pressure Canner.
And, of course, there are some great resources online ~
the forums on Down to Earth
Jennifer's blog Putting By
But my absolute favorite, favorite resource are the phone calls to Nana, the conversations with girlfriends over dinner, and the recipe exchanges that happen over the purchase of vegetables at the farmers market. Yes, these are the resources I love the most.
What are your favorite resources for preserving food?