Fall is Here - Slow Cookers - Classes - Demos - Tours - Mother Moo Opens!
Ernest Miller
August and September were very busy and I don't think there will be
much of a let up until late December! Good times!
First off, I would like to congratulate long time subscriber and
Master Food Preserver Karen Klemens on the opening of her new ice
cream shop in Sierra Madre: Mother Moo Creamery!
In addition to her food preservation mastery, Karen is a graduate of
the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, a prestigious program for ice
cream makers. She has some amazing, ever-changing flavors, so if you
are in her neighborhood (and a beautiful neighborhood it is), drop on
by and get a hand made waffle cone. Tell her PreserveNation sent you.
:-)
We processed tons of tomatoes in August and it seems that the tomatoes
are really starting to come in at the end of September. We've been
making some fun things, like orange and yellow tomato juices for those
extra special Bloody Marys and our 100% Organic Heirloom Tomato sauce
is flavorful and a bargain (over 2# of tomatoes per pint jar - for
$8!). Despite the amount we've been canning, I'm afraid we're going to
sell out long before next tomato season rolls around.
Plenty of stone fruit to put up still as well (but the season is
coming to end), but we're also getting fall fruits, such as apples,
quince and pomegranates in the market. Guess I won't be having any
free time any time soon. Of course, this is a great opportunity for
anyone interested in learning by doing. Just let me know if you want
to extern in food preservation at the Farmer's Kitchen and I'll send
you an application.
For those without enough time for an externship, I've got quite a few
classes coming up:
Comfort Me with (Preserved) Apples
THIS SATURDAY - 9am - 1pm
http://bit.ly/pOmNVD
You can practically live on apples alone ... from sweet cider to hard
cider to apple syrup to apple cider vinegar to applejack ... these are
just some of the powerful players in the apple preserving arsenal made
from the juice. Then there is dehydration ... respect the dried apple!
... then the canning applications: applesauce, apple butter, jams,
jellies, pie fillings, pickles, chutneys, etc. We'll discuss all these
and more, while we can some wonderful apple products.
Pickle and Ferment with Fall Fruits and Vegetables
Saturday, Oct 8, 9am - 1pm
http://bit.ly/nKR8mL
Jams and jellies always get the most publicity in the fall, but there
is plenty of pickling and fermentation to do in putting up for winter.
BIG NEWS - the Farmer's Kitchen is starting to do preserving tours!
Field Trip to the Workman-Temple Homestead and Pomegranate Preservation
Saturday, Oct. 15, 9am - 4pm
http://bit.ly/pWlcr3
Long time readers remember when I did this tour and preservation event
two years ago. It was a huge success. Just ask Karen Klemens who was
one of the attendees. You'll get a private tour of the California
historical treasure Workman-Temple homestead including the 1840s
rancho adobe and 1920s adobe mansion (so beautiful). After the tour we
will pick pomegranates from 100-year old trees on the property then
return to the Farmer's Kitchen to preserve them. A full day of
historical preserving goodness! Spaces are limited.
In addition to our paid classes (there are more on our schedule),
there are plenty of free demos as well. Master Food Preservers
continue to demo at the LA County Fair Thursdays through Sundays in
the Fairview Farms (agricultural section) of the fair. The demos have
been a great success this year and with lessons learned will be even
better next year!
I'll be demoing at the end of October at the Green Festival at the LA
Convention Center.
Monday, Oct. 24th, is national Food Day (like Earth Day, but about
protecting our foodsheds) and the Farmer's Kitchen and SEE-LA are
doing a film screening and fundraiser with the Ricardo Montalban
Theatre on Vine St.
So many other preserving things going on ... be sure to check out the
Google Calendar on the Master Food Preservers Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/MFPLA
As I mentioned above, we're getting plenty of tomatoes still. One way
to reduce those tomatoes is to make tomato paste and best tool I've
found for making tomato paste is to cook down the tomatoes until I've
made a thick sauce then transfer the sauce to a slow cooker (or
Crockpot). A good slow cooker will allow you to reduce the sauce to a
paste that mounds on a spoon without having to constantly stir it and
with little danger of scorching.
I also use my slow cooker to reduce applesauce into applebutter, or
reduce a syrup (such as pomegranate syrup) into a thicker molasses.
Again, you can do such drastic reductions in a slow cooker without
constant stirring or danger of scorching.
Slow cookers are a great all purpose cooking tool as well for making
soups, stews and braises, even cheater BBQ. Especially in the summer
when you might not want to turn on the oven, a slow cooker can do a
braise without heating the whole house. A handy tool to have in the
house. Just make sure you get a quality slow cooker, such as
CrockPot, even new they are less than $30.
Well that's it this email. Wish I could spend more time on these
emails, but I'm always available to answer questions via email.
As usual, if you have any questions about canning, pressure canning,
fermentation, dehydration, freezing, pickling,
curing, smoking or brewing, feel free to email me at
ernest.miller @ gmail.com.
Follow the Master Food Preservers of Los Angeles:
The blog:
http://ucanr.org/blogs/MFPLA/index.cfm
The Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/mfpla
The twitter hashtag:
#mfpla
Don't forget to sign up for the Farmer's Kitchen newsletter:
http://www.hollywoodfarmerskitchen.org/
And follow our twitter feed:
http://www.twitter.com/HollywoodFK
Thanks,
Ernie