A Pickle of a Mess

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One of my favorite memories of late summer or early fall was to walk into my mother’s kitchen and smell the pickling spices or her fruit relish simmering away. It stirred up thoughts of past special meals at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving when mom’s dills were the hit of the table. If you’re into to preserving NOW is the time to buy. The Market Gardeners and Farmer’s Markets are putting out this year’s crop. But be prepared to see an increase in price, thanks to our drought. Or if you are like Dawn Bidulock of Hairy Hill near Vegreville, you grow your own. Dawn has been pickling for 12 years. She loves to do as much as she can to provide her three children and husband with the wonderful tastes of summer all year. Jars of dill pickles, fruit, mustard beans, beets and vegetables line her cold cellar by the hundreds. It’s hard work, to be sure, but a way of life on the farm. Tracy Waun of Edmonton, a mother of two has been pickling for 14 years. The first year she began, she made 70 jars of pickles then went into labor. Talk about a labor of love! (Terrible pun I know, but I just couldn’t resist.) Living in the city, she buys her produce at the market then goes home and carries on her family tradition. In fact the whole family takes a week of vacation time to do nothing but preserve. But this is where Dawn and Tracy’s stories take different paths. It centers around their method of pickling. Dawn uses an old family recipe that’s been used on the farm for almost 100 years. With this recipe you don’t put the jars into a boiling bath for fifteen minutes, just pour boiling water over the pickles or veggies and cover with a sealing lid. It’s a simpler method. One that suited the times. But Home Economists at Atco’s Blue Flame Kitchen say times have changed and there’s a safer way. The bone of contention here is bacteria and micro-organisms that can cause food poisoning. Yet in the thirty to forty years the Bidulocks have been pickling or fermenting this way, no one has ever become ill. Probably because these ladies are super-careful in their prep and handling of the products. You might have noticed that most of the food magazines have not had many articles, if any at all, on pickling. The folks at Blue Flame tell me publishers and food writers don’t want to get sued should something go wrong in your preserving. Research is continually being conducted in the area of preserving, and as a result methods and safeguards to prevent illness or death, are changing. This is not to say that the farm recipe is wrong. Not by any stretch. But what was the acceptable method last year or 100 years ago, maybe out the window today. Then there’s also the risk factor of seals not sealing or spoilage. It’s a tricky craft. So if we have to error, let’s error on the safe side and ensure we use the boiling bath technique. Yes it’s a time consuming extra step, but better safe than sorry. I know Dawn and Wava would agree. They are excellent cooks. Even the Blue Flame Kitchen is taking the high road on this one. They’ve issued a disclaimer at the top of their Kitchen Preserving Information Update (www.atcoblueflamekitchen.com) releasing them from any legal responsibility should you decide to preserve, and something goes horribly wrong. Tracy has followed the Blue Flame method for all but her first year of pickling. She tried the old farm method and the pickles turned out great. But they had to be eaten within six months to a year. With the Blue Flame method, the pickles, she says, will last for years and you don’t have to worry at all. “I find the pickles are crispier with a lot more flavor than the older method,” she adds. When you take a look at the history of preserving, this was the only method to keep fruits and vegetables from spoiling over the winter when our refrigeration was poor. Root Cellars were used instead of the frig and today’s huge food stores bursting at the seams with fresh produce year round, simply weren’t around. So today people do it simply for the taste and fun of it. It’s great if you have a garden. So like Dawn and her family it all starts with planting a garden, harvesting and then preserving. Dawn and her mom agree that it’s a dying art. “Kids just aren’t interesting in cooking today, and besides a lot of people don’t have the time,” laments Dawn. It’s too bad, because many youngsters won’t have that same wonderful experience of walking in and smelling the fragrant aroma wafting from the kitchen. ATCO BLUE FLAME KITCHEN GUIDELINES FOR PROCESSING PRESERVES: 1. Sterilize jars and lids before use. Sterilize in boiling water for at least 15 minutes in canner. Screw bands do not need to be sterilized. 2. Prepare product according to your recipe. 3. Remove and drain one jar at a time and fill immediately with prepared product leaving the recommended space between the product and lid, found in your recipe. Keep sterilizing water in canner for use shortly. 4. Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic utensil such as a plastic knife by sliding it between the food product and jar. After removing air bubbles top of food product in jar, leaving the required headspace. Wipe rim of jar clean with a damp cloth. 5. Center lid on jar, and tighten screw band on top to fingertip tight. DO NOT over tighten. This allows for some give and take between the lid and jar, and also allows air to escape from the jar. This will create a vacuum seal. 6. Place jars into canner rack and submerse in at least one inch of water. Add more hot water if required. Place the lid on and bring to a rolling boil. Continue to boil for time specified in recipe. Then turn off heat and remove canner lid. After water has stopped boiling, remove jars with out tilting them and place upright on a towel, rack or cutting board in a draft-free place to cool undisturbed for 24 hours. 7. After checking to make sure lids have sealed (center of lid goes downward) refrigerate any jars that have not sealed and use within three months. Label and date all jars and store in a cool place for up to one year. Fresh pack Dill Pickles: This recipe is almost a carbon copy of Dawn’s formula, but utilizing the boiling water bath, which is now recommended by the Blue Flame Kitchen. Fourteen lbs pickling cucumbers Sixteen cups ice cubes Eight cups water One cup of pickling salt Six cups of vinegar Three-quarters cup picking salt One quarter cup sugar Two tbs picking spice tied in cheese cloth Fourteen tsp mustard seed Fourteen to twenty one heads of fresh dill Fourteen to twenty one cloves of garlic 1. Wash cukes thoroughly. Trim ends. Layer cukes and ice in large non-reactive container. 2. In a bowl combine eight cups of water and one cup of salt, stirring to dissolve salt. Pour over cukes. Add more water if necessary to just cover them. 3. Place a weight on cukes to keep them submerged. Refrigerate overnight. 4. To prepare pickling liquid combine eight cups of water, six cups of vinegar, three-quarter cup of salt, one quarter cup of sugar and pickling spice in cheese cloth in a non-reactive Dutch oven. 5. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar and boil for 5 minutes. Remove spice bag. 6. In each sterilized jar pack two tsp of mustard seed, two-three heads of dill and two to three heads of garlic, and cukes. 7. Pour boiling pickling liquid overtop of dills leaving one-half inch head space between liquid and lid. 8. Wipe jar rims thoroughly with a clean damp cloth. Place lid on top and process for 20 minutes in boiling water bath. For altitudes higher than 3-thousand feet add five minutes of processing time. 9. Remove and let cool. Label and store. YIELDS 7 Quart Jars Grandma Berry’s Fruit Relish: I can eat this stuff by the bucket. It is a wonderful, aromatic blend of fruits and veggies and can be used as a condiment with eggs, on sandwiches, with any meat, poultry or fish. As in the Bidulock’s formula, the Berry’s didn’t use a boiling water bath. We simply sealed, cooled and consumed within a year. But now we are following the Blue Flame Kitchen method and it can be held for a long time in your vegetable cellar. Eight peaches Eight pears Twenty ripe tomatoes (I like beef steak) Two red hot peppers Five cups of white sugar Two cups of diced celery Two tbs salt One tbs cloves One tbs cinnamon Six chopped onions One quart cider vinegar 1. Blanch tomatoes and remove skin. Chop and dice all veggies and fruit removing the skins-except for the celery and peppers. My aunt uses her food processor and it cuts down your prep time by a lot. 2. Put all ingredients into a large stock pot. 3. Bring to a boil-stirring often. Reduce heat to simmer for two hours or until it thickens. 4. Pour relish into sterilized jars. Wipe rims thoroughly and seal. 5. Put in boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes, ensuring there’s at least an inch of water covering the jars. 6. Remove and place on cutting board, towel or rack and let cool and set for 24 hours. 7. Store in a cool place. Will hold for 2-3 years.