Lorraine Hughes
Growing up it was just natural for me to be around a hub-bub of fall activity in the kitchen. Whether it was in my grandparents’ or my parents’ kitchen, I remember the big boiling pots of water, glass jars being sterilized and the cleaning and prepping of seemingly endless mounds of vegetables for preserving. My father’s work often kept him away from us for long stretches of time; he didn’t always have his vegetable garden going, so my parents would make a day trip to the Hutterite community (a similar sect of people to the Mennonites and Amish) to buy vegetables. I loved tagging along, sometimes we would see the Hutterite children who I’m sure were as curious about us as we were about them.
We would trundle home with the great bags of carrots, beans, beets, Brussel sprouts, cabbage and tomatoes. My parents would go on a marathon canning, pickling and freezing spree, staying up a few nights in a row to get it all done.
When I started canning on my own, I longed for some of the recipes that made me think of my father’s and especially my grandmother’s pickles and jams. I was a little nervous about canning on my own, so I did a lot of reading and research and at present am only doing water bath canning; pickles, jams and tomatoes can be canned this way. I am saving up for my own pressure canner to preserve vegetables and meat. I urge you to do research and follow time-tested recipes when doing home preserving. I always err on the side of caution and boil my jars even longer than the recipe requires making sure my preserves will not have botulism. This form of food poisoning does not always announce itself with a bad smell or by the sound of the jar lid blowing when you open your canned goods, so make sure you use new sealing lids and make sure you’ve got a seal.
One of my favorite recipes that I’ll share is for pickled green tomatoes, also known down east (most of my family is from New Bruinswick and Cape Breton Island) as Green tomato Chow. It’s delicious and reminds me of my childhood. Mmmmmm.
Green Tomato Chow
(Yields six pint jars)
- 16 cups of green tomatoes
- 8 cups of onions
- ½ cup of salt
- 3 cups of vinegar (I substitute apple cider vinegar)
- 6 cups of sugar (I substitute raw sugar)
- ½ cup pickling spice
- 1 tsp celery seed
Preparation
- In a food processor or by hand, finely slice green tomatoes and onions. Place in a large pot and sprinkle with the salt making sure to turn the mixture (I use my hands). Let sit overnight covered.
- Drain all the liquid from the pot and rinse. Add the vinegar, sugar, celery seed and pickling spices (make a small bag with cheese cloth tied with cooking twine).
- Cook for an hour, stirring often, until soft and thickened.
- Pour into hot sterile mason jars. Remove any air bubbles if present. I sterilize my jars and lids for 20 minutes in boiling water.
- With a clean damp cloth, wipe the rims of the jars. Put on your sanitized lids and rings, but do not over-tighten. Return full jars into boiling water bath for 20 minutes (making sure the water is at least 1 inch over the jars) to finish cooking and to seal the jars.
Further reading: Bernardins complete book of home preserving; Canning and Preserving for dummies; Backyard Farming, Canning and Preserving
