The past few months I’ve truly been enjoying the tasty bounty my CSA has provided: ripe peaches, large yellow squash, leafy kale, fresh cucumbers, hearty turnips. I get excited before each pickup to see what grab bag of items I will get and then rush home to immediately start figuring out what I can make with them all. Cooking has become one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. This season, (my 2nd year of the CSA) I’m starting to feel more confident/experimental in the kitchen with all the unique types of veggies I have which I never ate growing up in the mid-west and I love the chance to experiment with new recipes (such as the super tasty beat hummus I’m having for lunch!)  However, there have definitely been a few weeks where I have more food in the fridge then I have time to cook and it sadly goes straight into the compost. I don’t want this to happen again, and so I’ve started to research how to preserve my food so I can enjoy my veggies year round. Last summer I was pretty intimidated at the thought of canning (all the supplies, and mostly the fear of botulism)…but I’ve been getting good first hand advice from the Chaw Chaw Man himself and I stumbled upon “CANNING for a new generation” yesterday at a local book store so I decided this would be the summer to go for it!   Anyone have some beginners tips?!

The past few months I’ve truly been enjoying the tasty bounty my CSA has provided: ripe peaches, large yellow squash, leafy kale, fresh cucumbers, hearty turnips. I get excited before each pickup to see what grab bag of items I will get and then rush home to immediately start figuring out what I can make with them all. Cooking has become one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. This season, (my 2nd year of the CSA) I’m starting to feel more confident/experimental in the kitchen with all the unique types of veggies I have which I never ate growing up in the mid-west and I love the chance to experiment with new recipes (such as the super tasty beat hummus I’m having for lunch!)  However, there have definitely been a few weeks where I have more food in the fridge then I have time to cook and it sadly goes straight into the compost. I don’t want this to happen again, and so I’ve started to research how to preserve my food so I can enjoy my veggies year round. Last summer I was pretty intimidated at the thought of canning (all the supplies, and mostly the fear of botulism)…but I’ve been getting good first hand advice from the Chaw Chaw Man himself and I stumbled upon “CANNING for a new generation” yesterday at a local book store so I decided this would be the summer to go for it!  

Anyone have some beginners tips?!