Mid-Shore Life

by JR Coffey

The smell of cooking apples seem to say Fall.  It is that smell and taste that we want to capture in the canning jar.  I believe Fall is one of the busiest times in regard to canning and preserving.  Many fruits are in during the Fall season, including grapes, apples, pears, plums and figs.  Let’s get started canning! 

The varieties of apples are endless.  I prefer Golden Delicious to can for Baking, Ginger Gold for Apple Chutney, Winesaps, Grimes Golden or my favorite Northern Spy for applesauce and apple butter.  The early apples such as Summer Rambo and Transparent are good for sauce and cooking as well.  I use the same apples for pies as for sauce.

Apples for Baking

1 gallon apples, peeled and quartered

1 C. sugar

1 t. Fruit Fresh

Mix sugar and fruit fresh and sprinkle over apples.  Cover and let stand overnight.  Next morning, pack apples into clean jars, leaving ¾” headspace.  Add hot water to juice left in container and dissolve sugar and divide liquid among the jars.  Add more water to fill jars to within ¾” headspace.  Wipe jar rims, seal and process (cold pack) 5 to 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  Do half gallon jars 15 minutes.  Do not process too long or they will turn to sauce instead.  Golden Delicious are excellent canned this way.

A slight variation is to use 2 to 3 pounds sugar for a 5 gallon container of prepared apples.  To serve, put your apples in a casserole dish.  Sprinkle with about ¼ C. brown sugar and dot with about 1 or 2 T. butter.  Bake at 300 degrees for 45 to 60 minute.

Apple Pie Filling

Please see Peach column for my pie filling to can recipe.  Just add 1 T. ground cinnamon per double batch of glaze for each ½ bushel of apples.  This will can 14 to 16 quarts each time.  You could add some apple pie spice (1 to 2 t.) instead of or in addition to the cinnamon.  Some also like about a teaspoon of vanilla as well in apple pie filling.

by James R. Coffey

It is hard to believe August is here and Fall is around the corner.  Hopefully everyone is stocking their canning shelves with food for the coming Winter season.  This article will deal with several ways to preserve tomatoes by canning, juices, soup and sauces.  I am hearing that tomatoes are very plentiful so let’s start canning them.  Several sources for canning supplies are your local Walmart, Good’s Store in Quarryville, PA. And also Byler’s Store in Dover, DE.  Check at also local hardware and also within your bulk food stores if you are near an Amish/Mennonite community.

Plain Solid Pack Tomatoes

Peel, core and remove hard green spots.  Leave whole, halve or quarter.  Pack tightly into clean jars, pressing down so juice will cover them.  Leave 1” headspace.  Add NO water! Add 1 t. canning salt to a quart or ½ t. canning salt to a pint.  Add also ½ t. citric acid to each quart or ¼ t. citric acid to a pint. If you do not have citric acid use: 2 T. Realemon juice to a quart or 1 T. Realemon juice to a pint.  You may add also ½-1 t. sugar if you desire as well.  Do not omit either the citric acid or the lemon juice in any canned tomato recipe.  Wipe jar rims, seal and process by one of the methods below:

Hot Water Bath: Pints: 20 minutes; Quarts and Half Gallons: 30 minutes.

Pressure Canner: Pints and Quarts: 15 minutes at 5 pounds pressure or 10 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.  Half Gallons should be fine for the same time.

The USDA recommends all raw packed tomatoes be processed 85 minutes in the boiling water bath.  This is overkill in my opinion and results in mush.  My time follows the old recommendations and that in other areas of the United States.  Be sure not to can a low acid tomatoes.  I always use a high acid type to can.  For easy peeling, wash tomatoes and drop in boiling water.  Leave ½ minutes.  Remove and put in cold water.  Leave about 30 seconds and the skins will slip off.  I like mine still warm to peel quick. For all raw packed cold tomatoes, I have cold water in my canner and I do not time it until the water is at a rolling boil.  For all hot packed jars, use hot water.  If you forget, you will have broken jars either way.

Recipes by James R Coffey

Peach Pie Filling

4 to 6 quarts prepared fruit, as for canning

2 C. Clear Jell (Check at Amish Bulk Food Stores or on line)

2 C. cold water

7 C. sugar

1 t. canning salt

6 C. water

Mix clear jell and 2 C. cold water until smooth.  Combine the sugar, salt and remaining  6 C. water and  bring to a boil.  Add clear jell mixture and cook until thick and clear.  Add fruit.  Fill jars, leaving 1 to 1 ½ inches of headspace.  Wipe jar rims, seal and process by one of the methods given below:

Water Bath (pints and quarts): 30 minutes

Pressure Canner: (pints and quarts): 10 minutes at 5 pounds pressure.

I only can Fruit Pie Fillings in my pressure canner as I feel it makes mush of fruit otherwise.  I use this for Peaches, Apples (add 1 to 2 t. cinnamon), Blueberries, Cherries (can add red coloring and a little almond flavoring, if desired), Blackberry, Apricot and other berries.

by James R. Coffey

It is hard to believe, but fresh peaches are starting to show up in markets and probably will be early due to all of the warm weather we have had here this year.  My next several articles will be on preserving peaches in several different ways.  I hope to do one on tomatoes as well as we approach August and September.  Some of my favorite varieties are Red Haven, Sun High, Loring, and Elberta.  I would say my absolute favorite is Red Haven.  I call them “If-y Stone Peaches!”.  The reason is sometimes they are freestone and sometimes they want to cling to the stone and they have to be cut off, but no other compares for flavor and the ability not to darken. 

There are several methods of preserving peaches.  I prefer canning them.  Freezing is easy as well.  Just peel, pit, slice and sprinkle a little sugar on them and add a little Fruit Fresh according to package directions and freeze.  Red Haven will really keep their color.  You can also grind them, add the Fruit Fresh and freeze in recipe amounts for jams, cakes and other uses.

Canning is my absolute favorite way to preserve fresh peaches.  Peaches are also high in acid and need a very short processing time as compared to low acid food.  It should be one of the first can items for a novice.  Peaches can be canned and sweetened several different ways.  I will give all that I know as well as how to use agave nectar as well.

How to Can Peaches

Peel, cut in half, and remove pits.  Save peeling and pits later for making jelly.  This is why I do not like to scald the peaches and I feel it makes them slimy and harder to peel.  Pack peaches, raw, cavity side down into clean jars, leaving 1 inch headspace.  Follow directions below as to how to sweeten and finish:

Direct Sugar Method: Add ¼ to ½ C. granulated sugar to each quart.  Some adds up to 2/3 C., but I feel the lesser amount is better.  Fill jar to the neck with cold water.  (This is about 1 inch headspace and is for all methods).  For pint jars, use half of these amounts of sugar.

This tasty bread is rich in flavor and high in fiber! For an added “zing” grind your own flour! There’s very little white flour, and those fast carbs are balanced by the whole grain. This bread is nutritionally dense, with plenty of fiber and protein! The carbs will be digested slowly, meaning it will NOT spike your blood sugar! Fantastic for diabetes or those wanting to lose fat and build muscle!

Ingredients:

½ cup cracked grain (sold as cracked grain cereal)

1 ¼ cup water

1 package (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm water (@110 degrees F)

2 Tbs butter

1 Tbs salt (Tablespoon of sea salt is best )

3Tbs baking molasses

3Tbs Agave Sweetener (or honey)

 This quick cake is light, flavorful and satisfying! No sugar and no white flour make it healthy for diabetics & those trying to eat healthy foods!

Ingredients:

• Raisins, 1 cup, packed 
• Egg, fresh, 2 large 
• Mott's Apple Juice Concentrate, (no added sugar), 3 Tbs
• Canola Oil, .75 cup 
• Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp 
• Baking Soda, 1 tsp 
• Salt, .5 tsp 
• Cinnamon, ground, 1 tbsp 
• Nutmeg, ground, .5 tsp 
• Ginger, ground, 1 tbsp 
• Walnuts, .75 cup, chopped 
• Applesauce, unsweetened, 1 cup 
• Soy Flour, .5 cup, stirred 
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, 1.5 cup, stirred 

Plump raisins in water, drain. Toast walnuts.

It seems wherever we go in our area, people are talking more and more about the food they’re eating – how and where it’s grown, the people who grow it, the miles it travels to get to their plates, the quality of the food and the impact of the growing methods on the land. Here on the Eastern Shore, it is a matter of not only one of consumption but also of economics and community. Issues such as sustainability, preservation of land and farms, maintaining the Chesapeake Bay and its food sources, and continuing the rural heritage that has existed here for hundreds of years, all hit close to home.

The recent increase nationally in people’s interest and attention to local foods has spawned a movement characterized by words such as “foodie” and “slow food”, and has given rise to farm-to-table dinners across the country. The opportunity to interact with growers and vintners, and to dine in the setting on which the food is grown, has tremendous appeal to people invested in their food choices, and spending an evening over good food and wine in a natural setting, shared with like-minded diners is a unique and memorable experience

by JR Coffey, author of Country Canning and Country Canning II

Preserved Strawberries 1
Cap, wash and weight strawberries. For every pound of strawberries, use one pound of sugar. It is best to cook one quart at a time. Combine berries and sugar. Let stand
several hours, then bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Skim as needed. Remove from fire and plump overnight. Pour hot preserves in a shallow pan and allow to cool.
Shake pan occasionally. Cover with plastic wrap when cool. This makes the strawberries plump up and absorb the syrup. Next morning, pack cold preserves into jars.
Wipe jar rims, seal and process at 180 to 190 for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow water to boil or berries will shrink considerably.

Preserved Strawberries 2
Use firm, ripe whole berries. Scald 2 full heaping quarts, leaving them in boiling water 2
minutes. Drain and add 4C. sugar. Boil 2 minutes, counting the time after the entire
contents of pan are bubbling. Remove from fire and after bubbling has stopped, add 2
more C. sugar. Boil 5 minutes. Pour into shallow pans so preserves are not over 1 12"
deep. Let stand overnight. Cover with plastic wrap when cool. Shake the shallow pan
frequently so berries will plump and absorb the syrup. Can as directed in Recipe 1.
Makes 5 to 6 half pints.

by James R. Coffey

Enjoy Spring Asparagus throughout the year! More recipes are available from my two books, Country Canning and Country Canning II.

Remove scales from stalks and wash. Cut in jar length pieces. You can process cut asparagus pieces separately. Do not can the tough bottom part of the spear. Pack jar, add salt and water to fill jar. One most vegetables and meats I use 1/2 t. canning salt to each pint or 1 t. canning salt to each quart. Wipe jar rims, seal and process by one of the methods below:

Water Bath: 2 1/2 hours (pints and quarts)
Pressure Canner: pints: 25 minutes; quarts: 35 minutes at 10 to 11 pounds pressure Some do pints 2 hours, quarts 3 hours in water bath or pints 30 minutes, quarts 40 minutes in a pressure canner. Both methods work and keep well.

Pickled Asparagus by the Jar (Dill Type)
Remove tough ends and scales. Wash asparagus. Prepare jars and lids. It will take 1 to 2 pounds of asparagus for each jar. Use pints or quarts. Cut asparagus to fit jar. Leave 1" headspace. To each jar, add as directed below:

Your Guide to finding the best berries in Maryland and Delaware!

It’s Strawberry Season – and the ruby beauties are early – and abundant this year! Get thee (and thy entire family – many hands make light work) to your nearby pick-your-own farm and enjoy the fruits of the season! 

Don’t know what to do with your abundance of berries? You can clean them then flash freeze on a cookie sheet.  The next day put all your beauties in a freezer bag to enjoy throughout the year!

Maryland

Caroline County

• Blades Orchard - Minimizes chemical and pesticide use, 4822 Preston Road, Federalsburg, MD 21632. Phone: 4107548857. Fax: 4106731986. Email: bladesorchard@bladesorchard.com.
• Frase Farm - strawberries
  Corner of Kraft & Friendship Road, Preston, MD 21655. Phone: 410-673-7249. Alternate phone: 410-673-1598.
• Wing's Landing Farm - strawberries
  6300 Bell Creek Road, Preston, MD 21655. Phone: 410-673-7238 (recording). Alternate phone: 410-673-7749. 

Cecil County

  ·  Walnut Springs Farm - asparagus, blueberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, sweet cherries, picnic area, petting zoo, playground available.
3910 Blue Ball Road, Elkton, MD 21921. Phone: 410-398-3451. Email us at: info@strawberryfarm.com.