The Canvolution Is Coming!

I love putting up food. Making jerky, curing meats, pickling, jamming...the whole shebang. In fact just yesterday I put a big bag of "too much zucchini" to work as bread & butter zucchini pickles thanks to Linda Ziedrich's awesome The Joy of Pickling and the very cool Oxo V-Blade mandoline slicer my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday this year. Gotta love the crinkle cut!

I've found very few things as satisfying as sharing the bounty of the harvest via preserved foods. And nothing brightens up a dreary winter day like pulling out a jar of strawberry jam or salsa secco and reliving a bit of summertime. I'm sure many of you are aware that home food preservation has become quite en vogue again and in my mind, that's a mighty fine thing. Here's the scoop on the folks behind a very cool movement called Canning Across America:

Canning Across America (CAA) is a nationwide, ad hoc collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to the revival of the lost art of “putting by” food. Our goal is to promote safe food preservation and the joys of community building through food. We believe in celebrating the bounty of local and seasonal produce and taking greater control of our food supply. Together, we can.

The weekend of Aug. 29-30 is our kickoff, with how-to classes, demos and home canning parties in cities around the country. Think of us as a one-stop resource for events, recipes, inspiration and safety how-to on anything under the canning, preserving and pickling umbrella that will continue throughout the year.