I'm thinking that the secret to culinary survival here in Montana once winter descends and the produce aisle becomes devoid of color, or anything more exciting that a banana or an orange, is canning. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the specifics of my new-found ambition — pectin and pH levels and the rigors of sterilizing — so I'm trying to ease my way in, focusing this year only on tomatoes, peaches, cherries, and maybe some apples.
I'm also seeking guidance, and lots of it. Anyone in Bozeman trying to borrow a book on canning from the library might as well just come on over cause I've wiped out the reference section.
But the best advice comes from friends. Kate and I spent an entire Friday canning 70 pounds of tomatoes. Sweet, lumpy, heirloom tomatoes are definitely something I took for granted in California. Here in Montana, they're so hard to cultivate that I've heard one town has a tomato growing contest - as in, you get a prize if you can grow a tomato. It's not so bad in Bozeman, but the only tomato I managed to grow all year got nibbled off by a deer as I was greedily letting it ripen on the vine. Rats.
A few Sundays ago, Zoey, Stella and I went over to Rae's house to process 60 pounds of peaches with her. Rae is our goat buddy, and somehow Zoey got it in her head, (and reported to Chris,) that we were, 'going to Rae's to feed the goats canned peaches.'
Not exactly, but sounds like fun.
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