I Can...What's your Superpower?

I saw this on Facebook today and it made me smile!
I learned to can by watching my Mom make jam, can peaches, green beans, and pears.  When I got married  back in the 80's, I canned my first batches of jam and peaches.  As my family grew, I canned more peaches, pears~I really don't like pears, but one kid did~and branched out to pickles and salsa. One summer I went to a Canning 101 class put on by our local Extension Service. I learned lots of things.
A lot of things I had been doing....WRONG!  Oh dear!
After completing the class, I was able to take a course to become a Master Food Preserver through Washington State University.  What a feeling to complete the 8 week course and pass my test. Whew!  I was now able to give back to my community by teaching others HOW to can and preserve food safely and correctly!
The following part of my post is from the Pomona Universal Pectin website.  It tells what a Master Food Preserver does. I loved it.
Master Food Preservers Have a Mission – Teaching About Canning Safety
With the current explosion of interest in home food preservation – be it pickling, jamming, fermenting, or freezing – where are home preservers supposed to go for answers to their questions? Who out there has the most up-to-date understanding of food safety issues and approved practices?

Yes, you guessed it – your local Master Food Preserver (or MFP), trained by your local County Extension Office, and now a willing volunteer to answer your questions over the phone; teach classes; staff tables at Farmers’ Markets, County Fairs, and other such venues; and even make presentations to church groups and other organizations.

Never heard of a Master Food Preserver? Well, either had I until I started working with my sister Connie to bring you Pomona’s Pectin. So I decided to interview a few MFPs to find out who they are, how they got to be MFPs, what they do, and how you, if you’re interested, can follow in their footsteps.

I heard from MFPs in Washington, California, Idaho, Indiana, and Maine. Below is a summary of what I learned. For more detail about a particular state, click on that state. For information about states not included, search the internet, give a call to your County Extension Office, or go to their website.

What is an MFP and how do you become one? MFPs complete extensive training: usually spending around 40 hours in the classroom, studying assigned reading materials, and participating in hands-on training. The focus is food safety and food preserving methods. To be certified, an MFP must pass a written exam and commit to a number of volunteer hours in the community.

An MFP’s mission is then to help educate the public in a variety of ways, under the supervision of their Country Extension Office. To become an MFP, you need to learn about your local County Extension program, sign up, and likely pay a small fee for materials.

What are the qualities of a good MFP? Good MFPs: (1) have more than a passing interest in food safety and food preservation; (2) have the desire and time to volunteer for community service; (3) are curious, analytical, and personable; (4) like to teach and can communicate well; (5) have a passion for food preservation, people and fun!

Becoming an MFP means joining a community of like-minded individuals, both men and women. If you’re interested, there’s no time like the present!

If you have any interest in becoming a Master Food Preserver, contact your local Extension Service for details. It is so rewarding!

Summer Squash Casserole

Summer is here and my zucchini are going crazy.  Last year I got one. Seriously, I had to BUY them from the fruit stand.  What do you do with all of them when you've exhausted yourself with the standard zucchini recipes....bread, fried, etc.  I googled a casserole recipe that came from Paula Deen.  It was quite a bit different from the casserole I have had before that has cream of chicken soup and stuffing mix.  That recipe is really good as well, but I was looking for a little bit lighter version and this is it!

Squash Casserole ala Paula Deen

6 cups sliced zucchini and yellow squash
1 diced onion
4 T. butter
1/2 c. sour cream
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c. Ritz cracker crumbs

Slice up your squash and put it in a frying pan with some oil. Cook until the squash is super soft, about 20 minutes over medium heat.  Pour into a colander and drain the liquid off. Cook onions in the butter until soft and a little brown. Combine the squash, cooked onions, sour cream and cheese together, salt and pepper to taste, and pour into a casserole dish. Cover the top with the Ritz cracker crumbs. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

So good!

Keep Calm and Eat Jam!

One of the best things about summer is jam.  Can there be anything more delicious than a piece of toast dripping with butter and homemade jam.....of any persuasion?  I think my personal favorite is apricot....or plum. Although, marionberry-raspberry won me an award a few years back from a magazine!  Those were the days!  

As a Master Food Preserver, one of the things we teach is HOW to preserve food. There has been a flood of interest the last few years in canning and preserving fruits and vegetables because families want to be in control of what goes in to the food they are eating, putting food in the pantry for use later in the year, and having delicious food in jars!  It's fantastic!

One of the easiest ways to preserve fruit is making jam.  What is jam? Crushed fruit with added sugar cooked to a spreadable consistency.  Some recipes call for pectin, a thickening agent made from citrus peels. You can also make jam without pectin or make it with a low-sugar pectin.  I prefer the recipe using regular, powdered pectin and cooking the jam. Some people prefer to make freezer jam because it requires no water-bath processing. It also has a "fresher" taste.  Your choice....both are equally delicious!  MCP is my preferred brand of pectin. (Sure-jell and MCP are both owned by Kraft Foods.)  

You can also use a brand of pectin called Pomona Pectin.
From their website. 

• Sugar-free, preservative-free, low-methoxyl citrus pectin.
• Sweeten jam & jelly to your taste with low amounts of any sweetener: sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, frozen juice concentrate, stevia, xylitol, Sucanat, concentrated fruit sweetener, or Splenda and other artificial sweeteners.
  
• Each 1 oz box makes 2 to 4 batches (about 5 – 8 oz jars per batch).Recipes can be doubled or tripled. Each box contains pectin powder, calcium powder, directions, and recipes.
  
• Keeps indefinitely.
• Kosher manufactured. Vegan. Gluten Free. Non-GMO.
• Celebrating 34 years of low-sweetener jam and jelly.
  

The only negative that I have experienced with Pomona Pectin is that within the year my jam was not very pretty anymore. Sugar preserves the color of preserved food....low-sugar products lose their color quicker than a full-sugar jam or jelly would.  My kids won't eat the "weird" colored jam so it will get wasted. No bueno!

So...jump in with both feet! Get your kids in the kitchen to help! Make some JAM!

Here is my Grit Magazine Canning Contest Winning Recipe:

Marionberry Raspberry Jam

Shelley Bloemke

2 1/2 cups raspberries
2 1/2 cups marionberries or blackberries

1 box MCP Pectin

Measure 7 cups of sugar into a bowl 

Crush the berries with a potato masher. Place in a 6-8 quart saucepan. Add 1 box of MCP pectin, stir to incorporate. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat and add the sugar. Return to a full, rolling boil and cook for 4 minutes.

Ladle into prepared jars, leaving 1/8 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Wipe the rim of jar and place lid and ring on.  Screw rings on and place in water-bath canner. Water must be 1-2 inches above th jar. Cover, bring to a gentle boil. Process  jam for 10 minutes. Adjust processing time according to your altitude . Remove jars and place upright on a towel. Let cool, without disturbing jars for 24 hours, making sure jars have sealed by pressing the center of each lid. If the lid springs back, the jar isn't sealed and needs to be refrigerated. 

Remove rings and keep un-opened jars in a cool, dark place  for up to 1 year. Opened jars will keep for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.  

Please remember....it is super-duper important to process your home-canned jams.  It will help prevent spoilage from mold and bacteria.  DON"T do the "turn the jar upside down to seal like my Mom did" method of processing. After all the work you put in, you don't want to throw out your jam because of a bunch of mold. YUCK!

For more canning information the National Center for Home Food Preservation is THE resource I rely on for the most current canning guidelines.  

Happy Jamming! BTW...I won a wheat grinder from the canning contest!