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Jellies and jams and pickles, oh my!
by
Emily Jones
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%20canned%20the%20mountains%20of%20vegetables%20that%20my%20grandpa%20coaxed%20out%20of%20the%20earth%20in%20his%20garden%20(which%20was,%20gothically,%20located%20on%20the%20State%20Hospital%20grounds).%20Hour%20after%20hour,%20just%20as%20the%20Summer%20heat%20peaked%20for%20the%20year,%20leaving%20most%20of%20us%20breathless,%20they'd%20stand%20over%20the%20stove,%20milling%20tomatoes%20into%20juice%20(which%20would%20become%20vegetable%20soup%20or%20chili%20when%20Summer's%20sweat%20became%20a%20distant,%20almost%20longed-for%20memory),%20stringing,%20trimming,%20and%20finally%20packing%20green%20beans%20into%20quart%20jars,%20ready%20for%20the%20pressure%20cooker.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI%20remember%20(fondly)%20helping%20by%20peeling%20the%20wax%20pencil%20and%20writing%20dates%20on%20the%20lids%20as%20they%20came%20out%20of%20their%20hot%20bath.%20I%20remember%20dozens%20of%20jars%20of%20tomato%20juice%20and%20beans,%20and%20in%20a%20few%20banner%20years,%20hundreds,%20lining%20the%20shelves%20under%20the%20basement%20stairs%20in%20my%20grandparents'%20house,%20where%20it%20was%20cool%20and%20dark%20and%20there%20were%20commonly%20spiders.%20I%20took%20a%20special%20pleasure%20in%20sneaking%20into%20that%20small%20space%20and%20scaring%20myself%20out%20of%20my%20wits%20at%20the%20thought%20of%20spiders%20and%20other%20unknown%20things%20creeping%20out%20of%20the%20dark.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAt%20some%20point,%20I%20grew%20bored%20of%20watching%20the%20women%20in%20my%20family%20putting%20up%20Summer%20produce%20for%20the%20Winter.%20At%20some%20point%20my%20grandpa%20stopped%20gardening%20on%20such%20a%20large%20scale.%20And%20at%20some%20point%20my%20grandma%20stopped%20canning%20and%20this%20all%20became%20relegated%20to%20memory,%20a%20somewhat%20peculiar%20habit%20held%20over%20in%20my%20family%20by%20those%20Roosevelt%20Democrat%20elders%20who%20were%20worried%20about%20potentially%20lean%20Winters,%20even%20though%20we%20always%20had%20more%20than%20enough%20to%20eat%20in%20our%20homes.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI%20suffer%20no%20illusions%20that%20my%20canning%20now%20will%20make%20up%20for%20the%20years%20I%20missed%20canning%20with%20my%20grandma%20while%20I%20could%20have,%20but%20trying%20my%20hand%20at%20it%20makes%20me%20feel%20a%20little%20closer%20in%20a%20tiny%20way.%20In%20my%20case,%20there%20was%20only%20a%20very%20little%20salt%20and%20no%20tomatoes%20in%20sight%20and%20I%20shied%20away%20from%20the%20pressure%20cooker%20(I%20have%20visions%20of%20Arroz%20con%20Pollo%20stuck%20to%20my%20ceiling%20-%20and%20if%20you%20don't%20know%20what%20I'm%20talking%20about,%20look%20it%20up)%20and%20decided%20to%20give%20jelly%20and%20jam%20a%20go.%20(And%20pickles,%20but%20I%20can't%20take%20credit%20for%20that%20idea%20-%20more%20about%20that%20later.)%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ERemembering%20what%20seemed%20to%20a%20very%20small%20child%20to%20be%20a%20very%20large%20production,%20I%20decided%20to%20tackle%20this%20task%20with%20help%20rather%20than%20on%20my%20own.%20Luckily,%20my%20newly-minted-Somervillian%20friend%20Christine%20was%20excited%20at%20the%20prospect%20of%20giving%20all%20this%20ridiculousness%20a%20go%20and%20we%20spent%20today%20up%20to%20our%20elbows%20in%20brine,%20pectin,%20and%20produce.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EExperiment%20%231.%20Dill%20pickles.%20Christine%20expressed%20a%20great%20deal%20of%20interest%20in%20trying%20to%20can%20pickles.%20So,%20we%20stopped%20off%20at%20the%20Harvard%20Farmers%20Market%20and%20bought%2020%20or%20so%20pickling%20cukes%20and%20a%20big%20handful%20of%20dill.%20With%20a%20few%20mishaps%20on%20the%20way%20(dill%20pickles%20without%20the%20dill,%20briefly,%20but%20caught%20in%20time),%20we%20managed%20to%20make%20eight%20beautiful%20jars%20of%20tiny%20dill%20pickles,%20steeping%20(mellowing?)%20away%20in%20a%20fragrant,%20herby%20brine.Experiment%20%232.%20Grape%20Jelly.%20One%20of%20the%20finest%20things%20about%20the%20apartment%20where%20the%20Brit%20and%20I%20are%20living%20now%20(since%20May)%20is%20the%20beautiful%20back%20yard%20that%20we%20share%20with%20the%20other%20five%20apartments%20in%20our%20little%20corner%20of%20Cambridge.%20There%20is%20a%20rather%20stunning%20grape%20arbor%20that,%20this%20Summer,%20became%20overburdened%20with%20a%20bumper%20crop%20of%20big,%20fat,%20purple%20Concord%20Grapes.%20Christine%20and%20I%20went%20out,%20armed%20with%20one%20puppy%20and%20two%20big%20grocery%20bags%20and%20picked,%20conservatively,%2015%20pounds%20of%20grapes.%20Our%20recipe%20called%20for%20three%20pounds%20of%20grapes,%20with%20the%20goal%20of%20producing%204%20cups%20of%20grape%20juice%20(but%20you%20can%20add%20a%20little%20water%20if%20you%20don't%20have%20enough).%20Our%20three%20pound%20batch%20rendered%20more%20like%20eight%20cups%20of%20juice,%20so%20we%20ended%20up%20making%20two%20batches%20of%20grape%20jelly.%20And%20there's%20about%2012%20pounds%20of%20grapes%20in%20the%20freezer,%20waiting%20for%20a%20(cooler)%20rainy%20day.%20Result:%20many,%20many%20jars%20(of%20both%204%20oz.%20and%208%20oz.%20varieties)%20of%20grape%20jelly.Experiment%20%233.%20Spiced%20Plum%20Jam.%20The%20Harvard%20Farmers%20Market%20also%20boasted%20a%20lovely%20array%20of%20late%20Summer%20produce,%20of%20which%20we%20selected%20Plums%20as%20our%20final%20ingredient%20of%20the%20day.%20As%20the%20chopped,%20pitted%20plums%20cooked%20down%20into%20a%20happy,%20syrupy%20slurry%20(Thank%20you,%20Seven%20Spoons,%20for%20the%20phrase%20%22a%20warm%20slurry%20of%20bacon%20and%20sweet%20shallots%22%20which%20reminded%20me%20that%20slurry%20can%20be%20a%20good%20word,%20too.),%20I%20decided%20to%20add%20some%20spice.%20%22I%20feel%20like%20some%20spice%20would%20make%20sense%20with%20plums,%22%20I%20said%20to%20Christine,%20already%20a%20little%20delirious%20from%20the%20jars%20upon%20jars%20of%20grape%20and%20pickles%20we%20had%20done,%20and%20I%20threw%20in%20some%20ground%20cloves%20and%20ground%20cinnamon.%20Suddenly%20it%20smelled%20like%20Christmas%20and%20I%20knew%20it%20was%20a%20good%20idea.**Note:%20While%20we%20had%20plums%20on%20hand,%20I%20made%20this%20plum%20cake.%20It%20was%20delicious.%20This%20picture%20is%20before%20baking.After%20eleven%20hours%20of%20this%20business,%20with%20aching%20feet%20and%20back,%20and%20more%20than%20one%20burned%20fingertip%20(and%20a%20couple%20burned%20spots%20on%20face%20and%20feet%20from%20flying,%20boiling%20jelly),%20I%20can%20say%20with%20confidence%20that%20canning%20is%20a%20LOT%20more%20work%20than%20you%20think%20it%20is,%20no%20matter%20how%20much%20work%20you%20think%20it%20is.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAlso,%20I%20can't%20wait%20to%20do%20it%20again.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}