September 12, 2002 - Preserving the past• The S4ffolk. Times • September 12, 2002
reserving
A GOOD FRIEND OF OURS from
down the lane stopped in and saw us
involved in making some grape jam
the other day. Later he called and
told us he had just picked the grapes
from his own arbor and was now
ready to do
something with
them. "What do I FOCUS
do nowT' he ON
asked. Barbara
helped out by NATURE
giving him our by Paul
old funnel- Stoutenburgh
shaped yard sale
strainer and
some Certo she had, plus some quick
instructions on how to go about.
making the jelly. It reminded me of
the first jelly adventure in my memo-
ry, when my mother was making
grape jelly and hung a big bag of
purplish goo over the sink. There she
would let it drip into a pot below.. We
always had that standby to go on our
peanut butter sandwiches.
When we were first married and
things were tight we did everything
we could to economize along the
way. One of the ways was to can and
preserve things. I had just finished ag
school and was working for Long
Island Produce and Fertilizer
Company (LIPCO) in Riverhead,
where I sold irrigation systems to
farmers. In my travels around the
island I got to know the freezer plant
in Eastport, where the farmers took
lima beans to be mechanically
shelled and frozen for market. Once
I asked if I could get some of the
beans to freeze. "Why, sure. Just-put
that box under there and catch them
the
-�4
a st
This picnic table holds the beginning Photo by Paul stoutenburgh
the ingredients needed to make the pickles and the final product ail finished in the
jars. Just a reminder of a time when there was more home canning and preserving
done than there is today.
as they come out
the chute." Which
I did. Then later a
home we worked
into the night
washing, blanchin
and freezing the
beans. When we
were married, our
boss, George
Kaelin, let us buy
a refrigerator and
freezer at cost. I
must say that
freezerlaste us
for years and
years. It was one
of the big heavy -
duty freezers that
took more than a
man and a boy to
get it out of our
cellar once we
were finished with
it. It was the recip-
ient of many
frozen foods over
the vears.
The farmers helped us out in those
early days. They would let us clean uI
such'things as Brussels sprouts when
they were finished picking. We also
froze cauliflower, which gets kind of
squishy, and broccoli, which is one of
the best things to freeze. Barbara and
I have fond memories of going to the
old Downs farm, which is now a pre-
serve at Fort Corchaug, to get our
asparagus. It was a working farm
when we knew it. We'd stop in there
before we went to work in Riverhead
and get ,a quantity of asparagus to
freeze. They had a special
gadget that held the aspara-
gus in a clamp -like affair
while they tied a string
around it to hold it together.
Opening the clamp released
the bunch of asparagus. We'd
get enough to freeze and
take it home and blanch it
and put it into the freezer
before we went to work.
Man, we must have had some
energy in those early years.
One of the things we
remember is Barbara's mus-
tard pickles on the table,
particularly for the holidays.
They always went over big
with everyone. She learned
how to make them with her
grandmother, who lived
down the lane. She also
made a delicious garden rel-
ish from green tomatoes.
Usually just before frost,
when the farmer was ready
to plow them up, he would
let you go in and pick the
green tomatoes. I'd go out
and bring home a batch and
we'd cook up 10 or 15 jars of
relish. All,of these old
recipes are in a family cook-
book Barbara keeps with special
recipes from her mom, my mom and
friends. One of the recipes is from
Mark, a friend of our son's, who is
now a professional chef. He told us
how to make Yugoslavian pickles by
putting cucumbers in a gallon jug
with all sorts of spices and dill heads
and vinegar. Then a piece of rye
bread was put on top and covered
with a piece of
cloth. After three
days in the sun
you had yourself a
big jar of dillpick-
les.
When we built
our house I want-
ed to have the
pump out of the
cellar, so we built
what we cal e a
pump room off to
the side. It is in
there that I built
shelves of red-
wood for keeping
our preserves,
including jams an(
jellies made of
peaches, raspber-
ries, strawberries,
grapes, beach
plums and elder-
berries. They wouh
line the pump
room walls, along
with the peaches.
This is the well -used recipe for
Yugoslavian pickles given to us
by a friend of our son's.
pears, tomatoes, etc. that we put up
using the open - kettle method. Then
we used glass jars with glass tops
that were snapped down by a heavy
metal clamp. Remember those that
had the rubber in between? Today
you see them at antique shops and
yard sales, not for canning but for
decorative purposes.
Those were the days when you
could go pick strawberries after the
farmer was finished picking and you
were always able to get enough for a
batch or two of jam. This reminds
me of the potato diggers that used tc
churn in the field nearby. In those
days they always let the little pota-
toes fall through, to be disked in
later. You would see people picking
up the little ones before they were
plowed under. Today the novelty is
little potatoes. It's interesting how
our values change.
For more than 25 years we have
raised our beef right in the back pas-
ture. When cool weather comes, one
of them gets put down and into the
freezer. Everyone knows about it,
including the grandchildren, who
have watched cows born and others
put down right in the pasture. We
have the cows butchered. and pack-
aged into ribs, roasts, steaks, London
broil and hamburgers, etc., and put in
the freezer. It's nice to know where
your meat comes from in these days
of unknown additives.
When we have a surplus of fish we
freeze that as well. We don't keep
them long, maybe a month or so at
the most. This way we can have our
fish out of season. When we used to
o scallo in g, we'd get a quantity of
scallops and bring them home, have
a feast and the surplus we'd freeze.
They freeze very well, by the way.
Eels we freeze or smoke first and
then freeze. Then there are the
clams. Whenever we get a surplus of
clams, we just put them in the freez-
er, shell and all. They keep for
months that way. Then when we want
to use them we take them out and
run them under hot water for a
minute or so. Then you can take your
knife and slip it in, open the shell up
with unbelievable ease . and the clams
come out perfect, ready for chowder
or baked clams. While you're at it,
you might as well make a big batch
of baked clams, eat half of them and
freeze the rest for another day. Great
to pop out when company comes.
Preserving was a way of life years
ago. Today we touch on it occasional-
ly but the great canning days are no
longer with us. We have just become
too modern. Yet we still like to go
back and make a few jars. of jam or
perhaps freeze a bunch of sprouts
that brings back memories of a sim-
pler way of life.