What are you keeping from this summer?
A quick snipping of some herbs growing in my patio container gardensHow preserve nature's bounty for one person.
When the crickets chirping becomes more intense, the goldenrod blooms alongside roads, and the daylight seems to magically shorten, summertime is giving way to fall, and now is the time many people "put up" the season's bumper crops to savor for the upcoming winter months.
Preserving food may seem old-fashioned, rural, or suitable for those with large families, but the person cooking for one can still preserve the truly fresh flavors of locally raised food for later.
Canning in glass jars is one way to keep foods. Through canning, the food is processed under high temperatures and sealed to keep out bacteria and fungi. Although not very difficult, canning can require processing more food than the single person could use through the year and requires an investment in appropriate equipment.
The single person enjoys eating homegrown foods during the dead of winter just like anyone else, but smaller quantities, limited time, and uncertainty of how to go about doing it, set them back.
Preserving your own foods for one person has many benefits. You know what is in your food and what was done to it before you consume it. You preserved the food at the peak point of ripeness and freshness. It didn't sit around for a long time during transport or retail. True ripeness and freshness are unmistakenable qualitities of good food. You control the portion sizes. You can make as little or as much as you wish, and you can preserve them in consumable quantities for one person.
If I am going to preserve food either from my garden or my local farmers' market for one person, I want to select food that is easy to preserve and stands apart in flavor and quality from commercial alternatives. The following are three such foods that meet those criteria: tomato puree, berries, and herbs. Try preserving one of these fresh products to have an easy taste of summer whenever you are cooking for one person.
3 Comments
Reader Comments (3)
I do all of the above! I always dry some herbs (although it varies from year to year), can some fruit, and freeze a few other things. Blueberries, apricots, and oregano have been put up so far; pears, plums and cauliflower pickle are pending. This year, I've actually made some lactofermented pickles as well. Quite delicious.
My key for the solo cook is to can in small jars. Half-pints, 12 oz, and pints are your friends. Quarts are just a bit too much of most things.
Stephanie,
Absolutely can in smaller jars! I had a good crop of small cucumbers this year, so pickles were in order. Preserving food for one isn't overly difficult, and you personally get to select from the best of what you have to savor during the winter. I selected some of the simplest things for a person cooking for one to preserve since many may assume preserving summer produce must be done in large quantities. Here is a great resource with 300 recipes for canning in small batches http://amzn.to/oKAuym. Let me know how the cauliflower turns out if you can it.
Keith
I agree with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your future updates. Just saying thanks will not just be enough, for the fantastic clarity in your writing.
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