Toronto Canning and Preserving Classes

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Get your calendar out and grab a pen so that you can mark down these dates. Or if you are one of the very few people with a mobile device (ha), enter these dates in your calendar.

 

May 27th

June 24th

July 29th

August 26th

September - date TBD

For the second year in a row, I am partnering with The Depanneur to provide the lovely residents of Toronto with several opportunities to learn how to preserve.

On the last Monday of every month starting in May and going until September, I will be teaching classes on how to make jam (including low sugar jams), pickle, preserve fruit, make salsa, etc.

The classes are very hands-on, light hearted and fun and you leave with the basic understanding of how to preserve safely in your own home and more importantly you get to take home the recipe and a jar of what gets made in the class.

Watch this space for more details as they will be coming soon.

 

 

St Lucia Inspired Pineapple Jam

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If you were to ask my husband what his favourite part of our trip to St Lucia was, you would imagine his response to perhaps include the incredible warmth, the view of the sea from the little house we had rented, the great snorkelling, the fresh fish available at the local restaurants. All good guesses, yet every single one of them wrong.

His answer quite simply would be 'the rum punch'. Even I have to admit that it was the PERFECT thirst quenching drink on days where the weather climbed into the mid 30's.

One evening as an apertif, I ordered their local coconut rum and my tastebuds were very pleased. It is that little glass of coconut rum served with a wedge of fresh pineapple that inspired this recipe.

Pineapple Jam with Rum

1 ripe pineapple, cored and chopped into small pieces

3 cups sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp unsalted butter

3 oz liquid pectin

1/4 cup rum (you can add up to 1/2 cup)

Start by peeling, coring and cutting up the pineapple into very small pieces. Place it into a wide bottom non reactive pot. Add 3 cups of sugar and set aside for an hour, stirring once or twice. You will notice this brings the juices out in the pineapple and help dissolve the sugar.

After an hour transfer the pot to the stove and turn the heat to medium and add 2 tbsp of lemon. Stir the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved and then add the butter.

Turning the heat to med high ,bring the pineapples to a gentle boil stirring constantly, add the rum and then reduce the heat, cover the pot and let them simmer for 10 minutes. By now you will notice that the pineapple chunks have begun to reduce in size and the mixture has gotten quite liquidy.

Turning the heat once again to med high bring the pineapple mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Added 3oz of liquid pectin and stirred again constantly until the mixture returned to a rolling boil and let it boil for 60 seconds and then turned off the heat.

Leaving the pineapples to cool for several minutes so your fruit doesn't float (stir once or twice) and then ladle into sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace and put in water bath for 10 minutes.

My plan is to make this cocount cake, heat some of the jam in a pan and pour over the slices of cake as served. Is it wrong to have that for breakfast?

Gone Fishing

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Tomorrow, James and I are off to St. Lucia. Betty already senses that something is up and her ears are down and forward and she is shuffling from one end of the house to the other with a serious pout on her face. But she will light up like a Christmas tree as soon as she realizes that her Uncle Craib is coming to take care of her.

I am having mixed emotions about my decision not to take my cell phone or ipad with me on this trip. I need to disconnect and decompress but as the hour creeps closer I almost twitch with the anxiety of disconnection.

But as soon as I am sitting on the balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea all will be right with the world.

This post is just to let you all know there will be nothing but silence on the Manning Canning front for the next week. So if you send an email, have an inquiry or need to place an order - please be patient. I will respond as quickly as I can after I have returned.

Until then, enjoy your week and remember with each passing day we are one day closer to spring and gardens and fresh raspberries!

 

 

Top 3 Reasons to look forward to Spring

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So many wonderful things happened today. First, the clocks went forward so we officially have an extra hour of daylight. For some people, that might not seem like such a big thing. But for me - it really signifies the END OF WINTER. Second, I opened my bedroom window to let in some fresh air and wasn't immediately cold. Third, when I opened the window there was a symphony of bird songs in the backyard. Fourth, I noticed the tulips were starting to poke their heads up in the front yard. Like I said - wonderful.things.happened. Oh yes, they did!

And all of these things started me thinking about all of the things I love about spring. Here are my top 3.

Chive Flower Blossom Vinegar

 

 Growing Tomatoes from Seed

 

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

Why are you looking forward to Spring?

6th Annual Mad for Marmalade, Crazy for Citrus

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I have never been a very lucky person. In fact, I think the last time I won anything (other than a Free Donut) would have been back in Grade 3 or 4. Our school participated in the MS Readathon and I won 2 tickets to see The Edmonton Oilers. To this day, I remember the thrill of winning. How my heart picked up speed and I felt my face redden as I walked to the front of the library to receive my prize.

All of this came flashing back to me when I heard the words ‘Christine Manning’ announced as the 2nd place winner (two times) this weekend at the 6th annual Mad for Marmalade held at Fort York. I had decided when I heard about the marmalade competition that I was going to enter. It would be the first time I entered a preserving competition and as silly as it may sound, I was rather nervous. I entered my marmalades in 2 different categories; Traditional Seville Orange Marmalade and Citrus Combo, where I decided to enter a relatively new recipe that I had adapted - lime cilantro marmalade.

Photo courtesy of: Sarah B Hood

I initially found out about Mad for Marmalade, Crazy for Citrus from Sarah B. Hood’s blog. Her preserving cookbook 'We Sure Can' has gotten a LOT of use in my house, so I was excited to see that she would be leading a workshop and sharing some of her tips for how to make Blue Ribbon Marmalades. Sign me up!

The morning was spent with Sarah in her workshop which was situated in one of the barrack’s at Fort York which was a surprisingly cozy and comfortable space. She shared some tips that I frantically wrote down for future reference and we all shared a jar of her fabulous Orange Marmalade and her Grapefruit Marmalade. It was an informative and enjoyable session and I was happy to have been a part of it.

Then we returned for a great demo by Chef Emily Richards. She created a couple of dishes for us using Citrus juices that filled the hall up with amazing scents and got everyone’s stomach grumbling. After a delicious lunch, it was time for the competition announcements. They started with the 3rd place winners in each category and when I didn’t hear my name mentioned there I almost stopped paying attention. Thankfully, I didn’t because both of my entries received a 2nd place prize and I took home two fabulous Emile Henry Salt Pigs.

Photo courtesy of: Sarah B Hood

I learned something about myself on this day. I may have aged a lot since grade 4, but one thing has not changed – I still felt my heart pick up speed and I am certain I felt my face turn red as I walked up to get my awards.

Then, when I thought the day couldn’t possibly get any better, I ended up winning the door prize which was a fabulous, sexy Cuisinart. It was definitely my day ;).

 

 

 

Super Spicy Pickled Celery

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It all started over the Christmas holidays. You see, my family all lives out in Alberta so my husband and I needed to start alternating where we spent our Christmas in order to keep it fair. And this year, we spent it here in Ontario. It was an amazing holiday, but there were a few days where I felt a little bit of the ol' homesickness start to creep into the everyday. For quite a few years I had been going to my Nona's house for Christmas. It was usually a small gathering, just my mom, aunt and uncle and my sister Deb. Well Deb and I started to create a few of our own traditions and one of them was the Christmas Caesar.

So I found myself thinking about family, about my nona and sisters, nieces and nephews - you know, all of the really important things. And then I started to crave my sister's Caesar's. This all led to me experimenting with pickled celery recipes, which you may have read about here within the pages of my blog. I came up with two recipes that I thought were really good. One of them perhaps a touch too spicy for the every day consumer, so I thought I would share it here on these pages. If you like spicy, then get ready!

Super Spicy Pickled Celery

3 bunches of celery

6 cups pickling vinegar

2 cups water

1/2 cup pickling salt

1 tsp dill seed (per jar)

1 garlic clove (peeled and whole) per jar

1- 3 whole chili peppers (per jar)

Sterilize your jars and warm your lids following safe canning instructions.

Wash your celery thoroughly and then chop the stalks to the desired length depending on the shape of your jar and place into jars leaving a minimum of a 1/2" clearance.

Combine the water, vinegar and salt in a non reactive pot, stir well and cover. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil ensuring that all the salt dissolves.

Place dill, garlic and chili peppers in each jar with the celery and pour the vinegar mixture into the jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. Run a plastic knife down the inside of the jars to release any trapped air bubbles and then wipe the rims and threads with a damp close and seal with your already warmed lids.

Place the jars in your hot water bath and process at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the hot water bath and allow jars to cool completely on the counter. This will age nicely in approximately 2 weeks.

For your reference I used 2 whole dried chilli peppers in mine and they were what I would consider super spicy. Yields between 5-7, 500ml jars.

Marmalade is back and Pickled Celery has arrived

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It has become a bi tof a tradition that every winter when the Seville Oranges arrive my mother in law and I get together for a day and make marmalade. It is from a cookbook that her mother had and her mother's mother had before her. The spine is cracked and the pages have yellowed, but the recipe is still as good today as it was the day it was printed.

This year was no different, except this year we weren't just making marmalade for our personal use, this year I was making it in preparation for the farmer's market. I was amazed last year at how many customers loved the flavour of this old fashioned marmalade and was not going to arrive empty handed for this year's market.

But the creating did not stop with marmalade this weekend. I have been working on a recipe for pickled celery for a while now and have landed on a recipe that I think is perfect. I already have some on the shelves that has been aging for a few weeks now and next weekend it will be time to deliver it to The Meat Dept. So get your tastebuds prepared and have clamato juice on hand, because these babies are going to have you craving Worchestershire and Tabasco Sauce!

3 tips for delicious marmalade

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My mother in law makes a mean traditional seville orange marmalade. Perhaps it is because she is Bristish and it is in her dna? Whatever the case, her marmalade is the first that I have ever liked. Generally speaking I have found marmalade to be too bitter but the marmalade that she packs into her jars has a deep orange flavour that over rides the bitterness.

There are a few tips I have learned through making marmalade at her side and a few I have picked up along the way as I experimented with marmalades made with meyer lemons, pink grapefruit and even limes.

If you are planning on making marmalade, I have a few tips to share:

  • briefly soak your citrus peels or zest in water before making your marmalade. This helps remove some of the bitterness from the peels
  • add between 1/2 tsp to a full tsp of unsalted butter to the marmalade as it cooks. This will reduce the amount of foam that needs to be skimmed off at the end. You will end up with a nice clear marmalade.
  • Take the little extra time to supreme your oranges. You will notice a hige difference as the final product will taste more of fruit and less of the pith.

No go forth and make marmalade

The Insight Project: Hacking into the food industry with Matt Basile

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I was unbelievable excited about a week ago when a Google alert popped into my mailbox and one of the articles was about a food entrepreneur workshop being hosted by The Insight Group. As a small business owner, I have many challenges that I struggle with on a daily basis - especially since I also have a demanding full time job that limits my availability to concentrate on my small business. Each day there are things on my to do list that range from sorting out nutrition facts and bar codes, distribution, finding suitable and available commercial kitchen space right down to creating invoices and labelling jars.

There are days where it feels like an insurmountable task. So I had literally only read the first paragraph of the article and I was excited already. A day with like-minded entrepreneurs who were perhaps struggling with some of the same things as I was sounded like an amazing way to spend a Sunday. Count me in! The fact that it was being hosted by Matt Basile, creator of Fidel Gastro was the icing on the cake. I had followed his evolution and loved his guerrilla approach to successful business.

I applied and this morning found out that I have been accepted as one of the 10 participants. My mind is already spinning with questions and ideas. For anyone out there who might be in a similar situation to myself – there are still 2 spots left so make sure you jump on this chance. Applications are being accepted until Friday, February 8th and the session is being held this Sunday.

Hope to see you there!