crunchy leaves

We took a long drive up to Tofte and drove into the Superior Forest to look for the "tunnel of maples." The leaves had all fallen off the maples, but it was still beautiful with birch trees. Jackie, Peter and Henry joined us and as you can see, Henry really took to the leaves. Ivar, on the other hand, was not a fan.

the north shore of lake superior

You know that popular backdrop used by JCPenny's in the 70's for their photo shoots? Doesn't it look like we're standing in front of that?!! But we're not. That's the real deal behind us and some serious flash in front of us.

We just spent three nights vacationing on the North Shore and it was wonderful. For me, a vacation is when you don't really have to make a whole lot of decisions. Travel is different...then you are always discovering, always looking for something new. But we've been to the North Shore so many times that we have found our constants. On the North Shore we have rituals: a stop at the Scenic Cafe on our drive from Duluth, a pasty eaten at The Vanilla Bean cafe in Two Harbors, lots of time hiking around on the big boulders by the water, a good book, a trip to Temperance River, Gooseberry Falls and evenings spent lounging in front of the fire.

The leaves were past peak, but obviously still stunning. Made for easy photos that would make lovely postcards. We had friends join us the last two nights with their little baby and we loved having their company. And the weather was amazing. On the verge of almost too hot for a fall trip up north. You know it has to be cold enough for the fire!

sidekick

I took this picture while canning all of that rhubarb sauce. He was my faithful sidekick that day, very interested in the bubbling pots and pans on all of the burners. And equally interested in the puff snacks I was feeding him to keep him safe and happy in his high chair.

This is Ivar before his teeth came in. I love this boy so much. Can't hardly handle how much I love him. Recently my niece Mara said, "Aunt Bec, Ivar's legs sort of feel like a really soft butt and they even have a crack." (showing me the folds in his thighs.) I confirmed her observation, "Isn't he the best?"

Canning 101, part 2

My grandma just sent the Martin County Living magazine to me. My aunt Louie is on the cover this month for her canning! (Her name is really Mary Lou, hence the nickname. I've never called her Mary a day in my life.) She is the MASTER canner. She has a room in her basement filled with all of her canning: peaches, tomatoes, V8 juice, spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, dill pickles, green bean pickles, beats, lots more...She literally starts sometime in June and cans all throughout the summer and fall. She has a huge garden and spends three months preserving her harvest.

I think this is why I was intimidated by canning. Because Louie goes gangbusters. But now that Rory and I have given it a whirl, it is not as overwhelming. And it turns out that Aunt Covergirl is one handy and well studied resource for canning tips and tricks. Her tomato soup recipe is out of control good...more of a bisque with texture than the thin tomato soup you're used to.

Here are the fruits of my first canning attempts. From Left to Right, Tomato Soup, Rhubarb Sauce, and Spaghetti Sauce. We have 10 jars of soup, 12 jars of rhubarb and 3 jars of spaghetti sauce. Aren't they so pretty?

Just a few reflections from these three successful attempts at canning:
1. Did you know that pureed, raw tomatoes are pink? When we made the spaghetti sauce we were so weirded out by this. Once the mix started cooking it began to turn that bright brilliant red, but for a while it looked...not delicious. It reminded us of when we were in Tanzania and ordered french fries. We were so excited for some comfort food but then the ketchup came and it was hot pink. We couldn't figure out what it was: turns out it was raw tomatoes mushed up. Ketchup in its purest form.

2. Sharing your cans of goodness with someone is really top honors. You should feel very, very loved if someone gives you a jar of their homemade jelly or a pint of their pickles. These jars become a part of the family and we are keenly aware of the number of jars we have left at any given moment.

3. You should really use canning salt when a recipe calls for canning salt. Not table salt. And just because you really like salt, you shouldn't add additional table salt before your spaghetti sauce reduces from a kettle full to three pint jars. It was tasty, but I do think we were hypertensive for a week or two.

4. The part of me that really likes color wants to can peaches and pickles to add more color to the shelves where we keep our canning. It would make for such a lovely rainbow.

5. It's more fun to can with a partner. Rory and I canned the Rhubarb and Spaghetti Sauce, Mom worked her magic on the tomato soup.

Alright. Well that concludes my thoughts on canning. I'll leave you with Aunt Louie's tomato soup recipe. Even if you don't plan on canning, you should give this one a whirl. (though you might want to cut it in half, or quarter it...) It is so good and hearty!

AUNT LOUIE'S TOMATO SOUP

24 cups of tomatoes, chunked
2 bay leaves

20 celery stalks

10 large onions
2 large green peppers

1 cup flour

1 1/3 cups butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

8 teaspoons canning salt

Chunk vegetables, cook for 35 minutes. Put through food processor (or blender). Combine remaining ingredients, add to above mixture. Cook for five minutes. Pour into hot jars, process to seal in hot water bath- 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

Yum and Yum. It's a winner.

canning 101, part 1

I've been sitting on these pictures for quite some time (since June) but have been wanting to post about a new skill we have acquired: canning.

First though, a story. All of this rhubarb came from Mom and Dad Groves. From an enormous rhubarb plant that someone planted on the side of their house without asking their permission. That someone was me. And I did it in haste when we were housesitting for them and my mom brought over a rhubarb plant for my house. Unfortunately we were moving to Alexandria the next day and I didn't have time to drive to Minneapolis to plant it in my own yard. Not wanting it to waste, I decided to dig up my inlaws yard instead.

Heh.

But somehow in the mix of moving, I forgot to tell them that I had dug up their woodchips and planted a large and growing leafy fruit (or vegetable? What is rhubarb?!!). It wasn't until the next year that, while the family was gathered, Mom Groves asked if anyone had any idea where this large plant had come from. And then I remembered that I had forgotten to tell her.

Thankfully she's a good sport and even lets us harvest from the produce-I-planted-without-permission. :)

Now you'd be surprised. Canning is not all that tricky. My bff Heidi let me in on this secret. In my head canning was a huge process that required hours and hours, patience and precision. And maybe this is still all true, but its just not all that complicated. It is a process, and it does require some patience and it does take time, but it's not really super hard. 

Don't count on the following as a complete tutorial. If you're looking for the nitty gritty I'd recommend the Getting Started Guide on the Ball fresh preserving site. It's got pictures and spells out each step in great detail.

But in an effort to debunk the difficulty of canning, let me show you my pictures.

First, you don't need a huge kitchen to can. It might be nice, but it's not necessary. It is necessary that keep everything organized though. As is true with everything, it's more fun and less stressful if you have a nice system in place.

The jars need to be clean and then really, really hot. Some do this in the dishwasher, but this flat skillet worked like a charm for me with the boiling water steaming up the insides of the jars.

I got this handy mcdandy canning gadget kit from Walmart for $6. Every tool in blue that you see was included (the jar grabber, funnel for filling, magnetic lid majigger, and head space measure thingy)

Meanwhile, the lids need to be simmering so they are hot and ready to seal.

Using the funnel you fill your hot jar with your hot food to be canned. Each recipe will tell you how much "head space" to leave. Most of the time it's just 1/2 inch of air at the top.

This magnetic grabber is similar to that fishing game where you have a magnetic pole and try to catch the plastic chomping fish who open and close their mouths as they circle round and round. It's good to find the grown up version of toys you love.

Then you wipe the rim, ensuring no food got in the seal, and screw down the ring (which is not hot so your fingers will not get burned.

You put your cans in the water, making sure they are covered by at least one inch of water. Each recipe tells you how long to boil them, how long to let them rest without any heat. Then you take them out of the water, set them on a towel and wait for the sweetest sound of your life.

The ping of success.

Each jar's lid will ping if it has been sealed correctly. When I first got instructions on how to do this my Aunt Annie said you'll keep track of how many pings you hear. I didn't believe her. How would I keep count of all 12 cans if some of them ping right away and others not for an hour or so?

But guess what? You do. Because they are like your little babies now, and you're proud of them and somehow you do keep count all night long and you say excited things to your husband when he comes in the house like, "We've got NINE pings!"

Of course, if you do lose count, you can also check them. If the lid clicks up and down then it didn't ping (which means it didn't seal properly) and then should be eaten within the next few days. But so far, I've heard that sweet sound for every jar I've canned.

I think the greatest trick is this: don't be afraid of canning in small batches. I have canned three times this summer/fall and none of it felt overwhelming. My Aunt Louie cans enough to feed Martin County, and I may get there. Hennepin County has a lot of mouths to feed though, so it might take some time. But until then, as a newbie, start small. It's still seriously satisfying.

Secondly, the bigger challenge in canning is that you are basically prepping a whole recipe AND THEN going through the process of canning. I think it might be smart to split it into two days. Make your sauce and then reheat it the next day for the canning. It's the cooking and canning in the same day that makes it a process. Either task on its own is not that huge of a deal.

Hope you're enlightened. We are so fortunate to have a grocery store with all the canned goods we could ever want. Can you imagine our grandmothers canning to ensure enough food for the winter?!! Now that would be stressful! But this is fun and empowering. Give it a whirl sometime.