A cold, brittle morning in Michigan's UP (-11 with windchill up to -25). The small weathered bird house swings slowly, like a pendulum outside my window. It lets me know there is a bit of a breeze.
January is a time for reflection, a time to begin again, and a time to use the pantry items that were carefully put away during the sunny, fragrant autumn days. Jars of canned apples, jams, homemade wines, meads and beer stack the metal shelves of an old coal room converted to a root cellar six years ago. It now smells slightly of the onions and garlic hanging from long rusted nails. Pumpkins and other squash fill the shelves below the jars. Potatoes, beets and carrots sit on the floor in pine crates.
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| Canning Apples 201 |
My small chest freezer boasts a stash of venison along with chicken and beef from the farmers market. There is also some amazing beef from my sister and brother-in-law's farm. My Sis also gave me two frozen jars of grated horseradish which brought back memories of the torturous task of grating the pungent roots when we were kids. This stuff is nothing like the those little jars you buy in the store. It has plenty of bite.
The many containers of pesto are hidden beneath all the kale and sit on top of the quart jars of sour kraut my daughter and I made in October. We are pretty well stocked.
Yes, I have become my mother, I have become my grandmother(s).
So now. Let's cook !
Apple Pie (with
my grandmother's pie crust and my canned apples)
Savory Butternut Squash Soup
