Putting things by

By Mary Bailey.

We discover it’s way more fun to have a canning bee than to go it alone in your kitchen.

We met one Sunday last fall, upstairs in the airy prep kitchen at Culina Millcreek — Culina founder Brad Lazarenko, Cindy Lazarenko (Lilge) with her girls Reese and Laine; Kirstin Kotelko, along with her cousin Chelsea and Aunt Donna (our cover model). We were ready to make some tomato sauce.

Brad had picked up several cases of utility tomatoes (Okanagan-grown tomatoes used for canning) at the Italian Centre, different vegetables, plus several dozen Bernardin jars. We scoped out the Culina pantry for herbs and spices to flavour our sauces. We were playing it by ear or, more accurately, by taste.

The tomatoes were dunked in boiling water to loosen the skins. Next, we peeled and rough chopped them, filling large bowls with tomatoes ready for sauce making. Brad manned a stockpot sizzling with butter, oil, onion, garlic, celery, a little carrot — the flavourful base of each sauce. In went the rough-chopped tomatoes, their juice and a whack of seasonings, fresh herbs, or vegetables, depending on the batch.

Next stop was the water bath, a large pot on the stove. We lost a few jars (either too full or too rolling a boil, I was to learn). When finished in the water bath, the jars were taken out and cooled by the windowsill.

It was a hot, steamy, messy afternoon but the results were well worth it. We each went home with about a dozen jars of several variations on tomato sauce: lemon with black pepper, mixed herb, fresh basil, celery and Indian spices. The cost? $50 each.

Recently, while poking about the back of the fridge I found a lone jar of lemon pepper, tangy with lemon zest and chunks of lemon and tomato — amazing with good pasta and a generous hand with the Parmigiano.

Enthusiastic canner Johwanna Allyyne organized a Slow Food Edmonton canning bee at St. Josaphat’s parish hall in August. She also picked 20 litres of Evans cherries from Pat Mecready’s tree. The black currants and raspberries came from an Edmonton organization called Operation Fruit Rescue.

About 15 people brought 12 jars each. “People were excited,” says Johwanna. “Some didn’t know what canning was or how it works. We had all kinds of skill levels.”

They all learned how to prepare and preserve fruit. The group put up batches of Evans cherries in simple syrup, cherry walnut spread, sour cherries in balsamic with vanilla; as well as cocktail cherries (heavier syrup with spice; the prettiest cherries went in that), along with a black currant/raspberry jam. Pitting Evans cherries can be tedious, but Johwanna devised a clever method entailing a straw over a bottle. The group enjoyed a pyrohy supper provided by the hall after and went home with some delicious preserves.

Johwanna’s bee had a lovely feel. The brightly-lit church hall basement; the spotless kitchen; the hall ladies milling about, ready to provide assistance with processing or clean up, or a chat; the round tables of strangers in hair nets, getting to know one another over bowls of pitted cherries.

“I really felt plugged into my community,” said Johwanna. “And it took a community for it to happen.”

This article was first published in 2011.

Sour Cherry Walnut Conserve

Adapted from Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving

• 3 c tart apples (4 medium)
• 3 c pitted sour cherries
• 3 ½ c sugar
• ¾ c water
• 3 medium oranges
• 3 lemons
• ¾ c chopped walnuts
• ¼ c Amaretto

Peel, core and chop apples. Combine cherries, with their juice, apples and water in a large stainless steel saucepan.

Using a zester or grater, remove zest from oranges and one lemon. Add to cherries. Remove remaining white membrane and peel from citrus fruit, discard seeds and chop fruit. Add to cherries.

Bring fruit mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly. Stirring frequently, gently boil 10 to 15 minutes or until cherries are soft.

Stir in sugar until dissolved. Boil gently, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens and reaches a gel stage, about 30-40 minutes. Stir in walnuts. If using liqueur remove conserve from heat and stir in Amaretto. Return conserve to a boil; stirring constantly, boil until mixture reaches desired consistency, about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Ladle hot conserve into hot jars leaving ¼ inch head space. Remove any air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw on. Place jars in boiling water bath. Process for 10 minutes. Let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool and store.

Makes 7 250 mL jars.