Canning

On Monday September 28th, we held a canning workshop taught by the fantastic Rebecca Brenner. We canned pickles and raspberry jam, yummm! It was a lot of fun to be able to use the new science building's Food-Science Lab.
I was surprised at how simple the whole process was, it took a few hours but the recipes weren't hard of labor intensive. This was the perfect example to how simple it is to eat "closer to the earth." I was inspired to go home and bake my super-easy-overnight bread and I've started to look at cheese making kits online. It was also great to talk with other students, faculty and staff who are interested in sustainable food. It’s such a fun community to share eating with!
Several of the Environmental Center employees came to the canning workshop with me. Kyle enjoyed the satisfaction of creating something yummy, which is good for him and the environment. He also loved learning new skills. Sarah's favorite part was seeing how simple it was to preserve the year’s harvest.

Here is the recipe for the pickles we made:

Dill Pickles:

Ingredients in the jar
8lbs of 4-6 inch cucumbers
Cut lengthwise to jar line
Green or dried dill
Garlic cloves
Notes:Place three cloves of garlic and two stems of dill in the bottom of each Jar. Cut cucumbers however. Pack jar tight. Make sure to leave about an inch or room in each jar. Remember to pack jar really tight.
Brine recipe:
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canning salt
1 quart vinegar
1 quart water
3 tbls mixed pickling spices (optional)
Notes: bring to boil let go for ten minutes. In Salt Lake City boil jars for 25 minutes… enjoy!