Growing up i was around canning alot and didn't realize it at the time the impact it has had on my life. Living in a rural part of Vermont known as Pittsford, family was close by. my grandparents on my mothers side lived down the farm. Literally growing up they were know as grandparents down at the farm. Growing up here was a huge influence in my life in many ways, from dedication to work and never settling for anything but the best. And of course how to take care of the land, plant a garden and how to make it last. Not truly realizing until later in life that you were not paid very well for milk at times. Making money off of selling raw milk to the locals, and surplus vegetables and corn from the garden not only was a welcome income for my grandparents, but also a great meal with local roots.
Canning was huge in the family, i remember a abundance of canned /yellow beans in the winter that i always looked forward too at the dinner table. My grandmother and my mom would also do pickles and jams as well. Those three are the ones i remembered most.
I have taken those learning from my childhood and today have placed my learning's in the kitchen at a Marriott in which i work. I do alot of canning of roasted salsas, pestos, pickles, dill and sweet. Pickled peppers and hopefully next i am going to do jardiniere, yet the dill pickles i make are too die for. Alot of the ingredients for these recipes are from the garden that i tend too at work as well, it is huge. Over 24 different pepper plants, a dozen tomato plants, a dozen eggplant, some zucchini and pickling cucumber plant to name a few.
Having the privilege to make cool things like this is alot of fun. The other day i chopped up some of the pickling cucumbers and made them for a dill pickle relish. I also pickled some cherry tomatoes that were at different stages of ripeness, the jar has cool colors. I will have some pics up shortly. I have the next three days off and will get some pics at work to post up here.
No comments:
Post a Comment