I spent last night on a red eye, traveling back home to Philadelphia from San Francisco. I was in the Bay Area for a whirlwind three days for the Good Food Awards judging (and a bit of family time). Now I’m settling in to being home (at least for the next week) and trying to catch up on my overflowing inbox. While I type away, here are a few links for you!
- Brined fish glazed with plum jam.
- Making kraut on a sailboat.
- Roasted tomato sauce that’s safe for canning.
- Roasted pizza sauce.
- End of summer pickling.
- Slow cooker tomato paste.
- Basil salt (I imagine that this would work well with any soft, leafy herb)
- Canning parties on BBC Radio 4 (with a cameo from yours truly)
The winner of the Hobby Hill Farm cheese kit giveaway is #132/Jen Y. And don’t forget, you can get 10% off on a Hobby Hill Farm purchase by using the code “FIJ.”
Question: I belong to a “safe canning” group on Facebook and am getting a bit frustrated. I’ve shared several of your recipes per other member’s request. However, the admin promptly takes the link down saying the recipe “isn’t tested.” Apparently, their take is that a recipe isn’t safe unless it’s either in the Ball Book or on the NCHFP website. They feel that “anyone can publish a canning book” but believe that most are not safe.
Any suggestions on how I can respond to this? I get that there are a lot of recipes out there that are out-dated or just plain foolish (“canning” butter comes to mind), but it seems they are needlessly limiting themselves.
Diane, unfortunately it’s hard to change the minds of people who righteously certain that they are correct.
I will tell you that I work diligently to ensure that my recipes are safe. When developing recipes, I either start with high acid ingredients that I already know to be safe, or I work with the bones of a recipe that was tested during its development. When I create something about which I am uncertain, I recommend that people either make small amounts that can be eaten relatively rapidly or suggest that they freeze it.
I wish I could tell you that all my recipes were tested by an 3rd party, but unfortunately that is not possible due the cost. And I don’t think that my words here will convince the people who believe that only Ball or NCHFP recipes are safe. My only suggestion is to stop sharing recipes in that forum. It’s not a great solution, but perhaps it will save you some frustration?
Love the street sign! Congrats to Jen on the win. I will become Master of the Cheese one of these days. I have not given up.
Thanks for the shout, Marisa! So cool that you did judging for GFA–must have been a lot of fun!