learn how to can and preserve food

I have an old Martha Stewart book which I think has some fruit preserve recipes in it, plus I bought Canning and Preserving for Dummies from a book club in the fall of 2007.

There are lots of tips and recipes in it, for many kinds of canned items, not just fruit and vegetables. For instance, there is one in there for spaghetti sauce and a couple for canning meat, as well.

The basics you want to know about canning and preserving are all covered, but some reviewers at Amazon.com said there was very little info about food dehydration (which I’ve no interest in, anyway), but I thought I should share that in case anyone is looking to buy this book with the hopes of learning to dehydrate foods.

I have been saving jars and bottles with a good lid that has a decent rubber seal on them. Every time I empty all the pickles, salsa, etc.

I hope to have enough saved by summer so that when I visit the farmer’s markets I can buy cheaply of all the nice, fresh veggies and fruits to can. I know it’s locally grown and coming from here in Minnesota, and not Canada, Mexico or South America, like when I buy at the grocery stores.

Whenever I go to the farmer’s market I know I’m saving a ton of money. For example, this past fall, I got a head of cabbage which was about 7 lbs(!) for $3 and I also got 2 trays of giant tomatoes (just under a lb, each!) for about $7. I can spend that much easily just buying 1 or 2 small vines with 3-4 skimpy fruits on them at the produce department of my grocery store!

Plus, the food usually is not sprayed with chemical insecticides and herbicides. I just have to wash off a bit of dirt, sometimes a bug here or there in some lettuce, but it’s so much better for me to eat!