Still Going...

Remember what I said about November in my last post? Well I take it all back. This November has been one for the record books- it's been sunny, mostly warm and pretty much the nicest November I can recall. Friday it hit 16 C (that's 60 F in American)and the overnight low was 11 - that's more like the beginning of October! All month we've had mainly highs in the double digits, a trend that continued this weekend although it's raining now. It cools down at night of course; we've had a couple of light frosts so far, but still no snow and even on the coldest nights we've barely hit freezing! Which is why I still have carrots, beets and a few herbs and flowers still outside, as well as brussel sprouts in the garden. If I'd known we were going get away with this kind of weather this long, I'd have planted more fall crops. And yes that's one foolhardy tomato plant in the bin with the beets. It, along with a handful of others, sprouted in Sept and I thought I'd yanked them all out but it appears I only took the top off this one and it kept growing. Now it's about 8 inches tall, it's got a thick sturdy stem and seems very healthy. I think it's a sign that I'm supposed to try to winter it over in the sunporch.

Inside the food preservation continues- I know I said I was pretty much done with canning this year and I am, all but the beets which are currently sitting in the fridge awaiting pickling. There's one more canning workshop to go as well- we'll be making pear mincemeat which is a first for me so I'l let you know how that turns out - I'm not fond of teaching stuff I've never made before but we've had some requests for it so I'm willing to give it a shot.

At home I'm onto the non cannable condiments now. I grated up a nice chunk of horseradish to make a pint of the extra strong stuff in vinegar- this stuff is guaranteed to clear your sinuses!

I've also soaked some mustard seeds and made a fiery mustard based on this recipe. I'm thinking of doing a horseradish version as well.

I got my hands a few last hot peppers and some local garlic to do another batch of chili garlic paste , since the one I made early this fall is all but gone already. All of these are small batches and stored in the refrigerator. When the chilly weather finally arrives, we'll be ready for it!


The science experiments, aka vinegars are almost wrapped up as well. The cider vinegar is the clear winner this year- literally! It's a gorgeous amber and still smells of apples. I used some of it in the mustard. The red wine vinegar is still murky and some mold was growing in the sides of the vessel, above the liquid so I decanted it into some clean jars and there's a new mother growing on the surface on couple so I think I'll leave them a little longer. Speaking of the mother, the chef (our friend who's temporarily couchsurfing with us), convinced me to add a mother from one of the vinegars to a jar of moisten red fife wheat flour to see what would happen. Well it's bubbling up a storm right now which means something's (likely yeast) growing in it but I have no idea what we plan to do with it next! It smells good tho so I'm guessing we've made a sourdough starter- guess I might have to take up baking.

Another advantage of having a chef for a housemate, besides the obvious, is having someone to talk with about food! The Russian being a typical meat and potatoes kinda guy couldn't care less about how to make vinegar or mustard from scratch. The chef on the other hand compares notes, offers up suggestions and brings home all kinds of treats and leftovers. We've both been scouring local thrift shops for old cookboks and are amassing quite a collection. Looks like I have some more projects ahead of me this winter!

Taking Stock

I don't know about you but September was a bit of blur around here and I can't believe it's October already. The gardens are almost bare, the shelves are filling up and there's a bit of room in the fridge again finally. Preserving season is winding down but there's still a lot to do!

As I mentioned previously my gardens were pretty much a bust this year- between the erratic weather and the ridiculous amount I lost to squirrels and raccoons, there wasn't much of a harvest to be had. I'm still picking a few tomatoes and peppers and the salad greens are enjoying all the rain and cooler temps but pickings are slim. Thankfully it's been a fabulous year for foraging and freebies!

Wanna stretch your food dollars? Got some time on your hands? Consider volunteering with local food initiatives and other food related events! Beside keeping in touch with what's happening in your community and giving a much needed hand, there's almost always leftovers to be shared amongst the people who stay behind to clean up! In the past few weeks I brought home 30 ears of cooked corn on the cob, thawed premade hamburger patties, a pound of barely opened butter, an unopened box of crackers, and more fruit and veggies than I can list here. Between this and all of the foraging I've been doing, there's been plenty of produce to put up for winter. Here's some of the preserving I've done recently, with recipes and links.

Corn Cob Stock:

After cutting the niblets off of 30 ears of corn for freezing, I chucked the cobs into a pot of water and left them to simmer for a few hours. When it was done I had 2 litres of rich corn stock which I froze for soup. The idea and directions came from Local Kitchen.



Autumn olives or olive berries are so named because the leaves resemble olive leaves. They produce clusters of reddish orange berries that are higher in lycopene than tomatoes! These beautiful jewels make a really yummy tart jam- I did some alone and some with grapes.


Olive Berry Jam:
6 c ripe autumn olive berries.
1 c water
2 ½ cups of sugar
1/2 package liquid pectin

Add water to berries and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes until berries are soft.
Mash and strain through a sieve to remove seeds- should make about 4 cups of pulp. Add sugar and heat till boiling. Add liquid pectin and heat to a rolling boil. Check for set at one minute. Fill sterilized jars (I used 125 ml ) leaving 1/2 inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.

Chilies,chilies and more chilies:
I love the hot stuff! The Russian however does not. We compromise by making almost everything mild and then I add heat to my portions after the fact. Of course different dishes call for different flavours so I like lots of choices in my hot condiments. Here are two very simple recipes for preserving hot chili peppers.

Peri Peri sauce (Portugues style hot sauce)
Use the long red hot peppers for best flavour but any hot pepper could be subbed.

12 large hot red peppers
1 1/2 tbsp course salt (or to taste)
2/3 cup vinegar.

Stem and seed peppers- wear gloves!

Chop into smaller pieces and puree in a blender or food processor. Add salt and vinegar and puree until smooth. In a large sauce pan heat puree until slightly boiling, allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool. This allows the air bubbles to dissipate. Stir thoroughly and reheat to a low simmer and pour in hot sterilized jars (I used 6 x 250 ml but this varies depending on the size of the peppers). Using a plastic or wooden tool, remove air bubbles. Leave 1/2 inch head space, seal and process for 15 minutes in hot water bath.



Peri peri sauce usually includes oil but you should never can anything containing oil as it can reduce the effectiveness of the canning process and allow spores to survive. Instead I add 1 tblsp of olive oil to a jar once it's opened and then refridgerate it.

Chili Garlic Paste (adapted from Viet World Kitchen)
Unlike the peri peri sauce I make small batches of this and don't bother to can it- just pop it in the fridge. It isn't acidic enough as it stands for safe waterbath canning.

1 cup hot chiles (e.g. cayenne, habanero, jalapeno, serrano, Thai, or a combination of them), stemmed and chopped- leave the seeds in for extra heat!
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar

Put all the ingredients in food processor. Process to a coarse texture. Transfer to a small saucepan, bring to a vigorous simmer over medium heat, lower the heat to gently simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the flavor with add extra salt or sugar. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 1 x 250ml jar.


Green Tomatoes
As the warm weather winds down the chance of those last few tomatoes actually ripening on the vine gets less likely, but tomatoes that are picked totally green tend to get only partially ripened before they start to look shrivelled and unappetizing. By roasting the ones that are nearly ripened but not quite red, you can concentrate the available sugars and make a versatile sauce. You also get to use up bits of herbs and any other less than perfect veggies.


Roasted Nearly Ripened Tomato Sauce.
6- 10 partially ripened tomatoes (I sometimes use a few over ripened ones as well but not if they are already starting to go off).
Ends and stalks of herbs that you've harvested for other things- basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary all work well but tarragon, sage and savoury are also okay.
Carrot tops, celery leaves or bits of both cut up. You can also use sweet peppers.
1 onion cut in small chunks
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed (don't worry about removing the paper skins)
1/2 tsp salt

Cut tomatoes in half or quarters and lay them in a baking dish. Cover with bits of herbs, onions, garlic and other veggies. Add 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle with salt. Bake in 300 degrees F oven for 30 -40 minutes or until all veggies are soft.

Remove dish from oven and strain contents through a wire mesh strainer or use a food mill. (note if you have the time, you can allow the dish to cool and remove the skins from the tomatoes by hand prior to putting it through the strainer- it does make pushing the pulp through easier but it's not necessary)

Add pulp and juice to a saucepan and cook down over med heat. Taste and add salt , pepper and a bit of sugar if it seems too tart. Cook until it reaches a good sauce consistancy. Freeze as is, or can as tomato sauce (add 1 tbsp of acid per 500 ml jar- I like red wine vinegar but balsamic or lemon juice would work too.) Process in hot waterbath for 15 minutes.

As the daylight wanes and the temperature dips, it's nice to see all the jars lined up again.