Last week I shared my adventures in canning and freezing and provided you with a few of my favorite canning links. In addition to the pesto, pears and peaches, I have also stored several other summer/early fall treats.

When bell peppers reached a decent price at the farmer’s market, I bought them by the bag full. We now have red and green peppers and lots of broccoli tucked away in the freezer. Previous to this year, I had no idea there was a proper way to freeze foods and that some (broccoli for example), require further preparation other than the obvious chopping and tossing into the ‘ole ice box. Through Amanda, I learned about this website. It’s a fantastic resource on proper food storage from freezing to pickling. And speaking of pickling…

I made pickles! Two kinds actually. Classic dill and spicy sweet curry. The first batch was gobbled up so quickly that it was apparent more needed to be made, and back to the farmer’s market we went. I’m not a huge fan of the curry (thankfully Hubs loves them), but I am over-the-moon about the dill. I will probably never change this recipe. It’s perfection. Thanks Jaime and Jacinda!

Lastly, Hubs whipped up some home brew. An IPA to be exact. Using hops is considered preserving food, right? Right? Last night he transferred it from the carboy to the keg and in ten days the brew will finally be carbonated enough to enjoy. I’d link you to beer resources, but I’m not sure what, if any the Mister uses. I do know that he’s shopped here for several years and they’ve always treated him right. Oh, and last year we used the spent grains in homemade bread. Dang. Freshly baked bread with a subtle hint of hoppy goodness is to die for. Mangia!

Note: As Babe has gotten older, it’s become easier to incorporate him into the food preparation process (um. That sounds as if we’re going to eat our baby, but I assure you we are not.) Because you know he’s right there with us, curious about every little aspect of the prep. He enjoys mixing and tasting his “vegetable soup” (an empty pot and wooden spoon) and insists on having every utensil or vegetable named. This keeps him part of the process, teaches him about food preparation, and with every basil leaf plucked or tomato taken off the vine, it teaches him about where our food comes from. It’s not always easy to take a moment to stop what I’m doing and explain the process and I don’t always do it, but with every explanation, I can see the little wheels turning. We’re hoping this approach instills a love of gardening, good, nutritious food, Mother Earth and making meals a social, familial event.

I’m curious, do you have a kitchen helper? How do you include them in the process, from start to finish?

Over the past couple months I have been dabbling in preserving our food through freezing and canning. Late this summer/early this fall, I made three big batches of basil and walnut pesto. I also tried my hand at canning using a pressure cooker and canned seven jars of fresh, organic peaches.

When pears were at their prime, my sister invited me over to learn how to water bath can and all said and done we canned 130 pounds of pears in one day. Holy crap. It was intense. I cannot wait to crack open one of those jars this winter! All pear photos taken by my brother-in-law. My hands were busy yo.

And on Saturday, my husband and I ventured to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and I bought a ton of fresh basil; the last of the season. I spent all day Sunday preparing batch after batch of more basil pesto.

Still having walnuts, I harvested the last of my parsley and also froze many pints of that as well. The recipe I use for basil pesto with pine nuts is here. And below is my recipe for parsley pesto using walnuts.

Parsley Walnut Pesto

• 2 cups packed Italian flat leaf parsley. I use stems and all and sometimes mix basil in if I have any on hand.
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup raw walnut halves and pieces
• 3 cloves garlic
• full 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• small pinch of fine sea salt

Place walnuts in a food processor and pulse until fine. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. Scoop into pint freezer jars and freeze, or spoon over hot pasta, adding several tablespoons of pasta water until the desired consistency has been achieved. Mangia!

Canning Resources

Canning isn’t overly difficult once you know the basics. Here are some of my favorite sites:

• This website is totally annoying and old and looks fake because of all the stupid ads, but it’s a fantastic place to find u-pick farms in your area, recipes and correct canning times and pressures.
• Sweet Preservation is a new site by the Washington State Fruit Commission. It’s chock full of info and recipes, complete with downloadable labels and even a suggested playlist if you hold a canning party (or just want to rock out by yourself!).
• Putting By is a fantastic blog dedicated to all things canning (which I discovered via Melissa).
• I also enjoy keeping up with Food in Jars, who ironically, just came back from a trip from my good ‘ole Stumptown.
• This local gal provides beautiful canning labels to trick out all those jars
• And Hubs bought me this book for my birthday, which I have poured over, but have not yet tried out.
• Lastly, Weck canning jars are both beautiful and functional. The lids are glass, meaning they contain NO BPA. Regular Ball and Kerr canning jar lids do contain BPA. Gross. Whenever I need new jars, Weck is going to be my choice. One small reason why I preserve my own food (other than the fact that it is infinitely more fresh tasting and delicious) is to try to keep crap out of it.

Do you preserve food? What kinds do you preserve? Have any tips or tricks that you’d like to share or favorite canning resources? Leave a comment!