Preserving the Harvest
Nothing like a new baby to make a few months disappear. We welcomed Malakai Wolf to the world on August 5 and it has been quite a ride adjusting to being new parents! And suddenly it’s here, the first few days of October, the Jewish holidays, the rain, the chill and the FALL!
A few weeks ago I took a break from new paternity to teach a Preserving The Harvest workshop at the St Paul school. In many ways preserving the harvest is where my passions come together, where bumper crops of beautiful produce meet canning pot and cutting board; where flavors mingle and strengthen. The first glorious days of early fall are a tremendous time to pickle! Late August and September is the apex of the growing season, and all that colorful abundance only stays with us for a few more weeks before giving way to the hearty but more limited palette of Autumn.
I love to preserve foods for a variety of reasons: my creativity flows around the nuances of flavor and texture that make such a difference in pickles and jams, also- I feel connected to the generations before me who survived the winters based on their effective food preservation skills. In the class I shared techniques for fermented dilly beans, traditional sour dills, vinegar pickled hot peppers and a sweet spicy cherry tomato ginger jam. The participants were interested and pleasant and we had a good time together putting up the jars.
We also enjoyed offering this workshop recently at the Station North Tool Library and are looking for other venues that might enjoy some pickling fun. Edible Eden is also always willing to customize a workshop to your specific event or venue so let us know what you are cooking up!