Ausut 21, 1986 - The Canning SeasonT Season
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
By now just about everyone who
has a garden has had their fill of to-
matoes. They are ripening so fast it
seems everyone has a surplus. What
we would all give to have some of
these vine - ripened lush red beauties
in the middle of winter. That is why
many of us get involved about this
time of year in canning, freezing and
preserving.
The first thing we did this year
was pickles. Barbara has an old
Yugoslavian recipe where she first
puts small cukes in a gallon jar, then
pours over it some magical solution
and caps the whole thing with a piece
of rye bread. Then it all goes outside
in the sun for three days and presto
-- the most delicious dill pickles you
can imagine. Of course, these have
to be kept in the refrigerator and
eaten, as they do not keep indefi-
nitely. This year we tried a new
Polish recipe where we did about the
same thing but have them in sealed
jars. Time will tell if they are going
to be as good and crisp as the old
ones.
Our roadside stands are one of the
delights East Enders enjoy and
whenever the garden has missed a
particular item it can usually be
found there. A case in point was fresh
dill we needed for the pickles. We
had none, but stopped at the stand
up the land and for 50 cents got the
most handsome batch of fresh dill
you could ask for. It was worth it just
for the drive home, when the fragr-
ance filled the car.
Blackberries Make Best Jam
The next things that came into the
kitchen were blackberries. Ours
weren't as good this year as last but
nevertheless we did up about 20 jars.
Blackberry jam is just about the ulti-
mate with beach plum, elderberry
and blueberry following close behind.
I've always been involved in one way
or another in this craft of preserving.
This year I found some nice half -
pint jelly jars at a yard sale that
made our efforts look quite profes-
sional. Usually it's an assortment of
peanut butter, mayonnaise or mus-
tard jars that we use. But the bar-
gain -rate jelly jars with their nice
plastic white caps added a touch of
class this season. Of course, all jars
have to be washed and sterilized in
boiling water so I got into that part
of the process along with crushing
the berries.
I hear beach plums are ready. Bar-
Focus on
Nature
bara's mother has just done her first
batch of jam using their own culti-
vated berries and now her Dad has
invited us up to pick. It seemed this
year every blossom matured into a
berry on his bushes. They were spec-
tacular.
When we pick berries, we don't al-
ways, have time to make the jam
right then. So we often freeze the ber-
ries just as they are. Then in the
winter months, over our wood stove,
we have the pleasure of working with
the wonderful aromas and atmos-
phere of jamming. It's extra special
on a snowy day.
Last of the Cauliflower Plants
I stopped in to our neighbor's to de-
liver some of the last cauliflower
plants from up lane for his fall gar-
den and found his wife busy freezing
eggplant. They have a garden that I
hate to visit for it puts my weed
patch to shame. Eggplant they grow
in quantities like I grow tomatoes.
First she slices them, then breads
them and partly cooks them on a
cookie sheet in the oven. Then she
freezes the slices for later use. We've
never done it but Frank says they're
delicious and taste like fresh. We'll
try it.
Generally speaking, most have
gotten away from putting up fruits
and vegetables. Years ago this was a
big part of the housewife's day. Ev-
erything from smoked meats to
water - glassed eggs were set aside for
winter's use. The cool stone - walled
cellars kept the jars of canned beans,
corn, tomatoes and a host of other
goodies along with the sacks of
potatoes, barrels of apples and winter
squash.
Today the supermarket takes that
role and by and large it does a fairly
good job of providing for our needs.
Yet there is something special about
being able to reach into the freezer
or go down in the cellar and bring up
some of last summer's freshness
whether it's a package of frozen broc-
coli for dinner, homemade raspberry
jam on your morning toast or home -
canned tomatoes to add to a pot of
soup. The variety is limited only by
the energy to produce. Even the sack
of potatoes our Dad grows with its
The UOUR RUM
Restaurant • Lounge • Terrace
DERING HARBOR INN
Shelter Island • 749 -0909
Dinner: Tuesday - Sunday. 6 p.m
Reservations Requested
PRIVATE PARTIES
CATERING
Courtesy Dock
Live Music Saturday
Eric & Kitty Pergeaux
formerly of "LaTerrasse -a * * N.Y. Times
Tpp,Suffolk Times /August 21, 1986 /Page 9A
M. "+.. '�1lAe. ,. ,� .. �'�'.. .:'nA..i.� �$� 3''�k'u�4.w'��• � :'YSS ,. +D.
By Paul Stoutenburgh
BUCKET OF BEACH PLUMS - -The fruits of summer are starting to
show up in our gardens, roadside stands and, if you. know the right
places, in the natural areas here on the East End. Gathered and put
into jams and jellies, they can make the best of preserves.
rich smell of earth never fails to re-
ward us at the dinner table.
So if you haven't canned or pre-
served or frozen food or if you have
gotten out of doing it, start now, for
the fruits and vegetables are pouring
forth from our rich Long Island soils.
There is no better time than now to
get involved in that time - honored
tradition of putting up for the future.
Bum
Breakfast,
and lunch,
at ft
b e ac �
et 6M.-M, CREEK MARINA
Breakfast S AM - 11 AM
Lunch 11:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Open 7 days
Also sail board, sail boat rentals and
sail board lessons.
MAN Engine Sales
• • - . 722 -3415