Last Sunday, we learned how easy it is to make homemade sauerkraut. I forgot my camera (again…) but the inimitable Ilex over at Homesteading in a Condo recently posted a photo essay of how she makes kraut. I refer you to her excellent guide to making sauerkraut, and make a few notes here about how we varied the process slightly.

Holly has beautiful, vintage sauerkraut crocks, and she makes several gallons at a time. If you are not blessed with such crocks, or want to make smaller batches, all is not lost! Canning jars make excellent small-batch kraut containers – use either quarts or half-gallon wide-mouth jars.

You can either salt the shredded cabbage in a bowl, tossing thoroughly to mix, or layer cabbage and salt right in your crock or jar. In either case, every few inches you need to stomp the cabbage and thoroughly bruise it. This gets it to release its juice, which will combine with the salt to make the salt brine that preserves the cabbage. Shred, salt, stomp. Shred, salt, stomp. That’s about all there is to it.

When you get to the top of your container or run out of cabbage, you want to make sure the kraut is submerged under brine. In a canning jar, I get great results by tucking a whole cabbage leaf into the jar, tucking it down around the shredded cabbage, to make a “stopper.” Then I put a quart-sized freezer bag into the neck of the jar and fill the bag with brine (2T salt to 1 quart water). Make sure the bag fills every crevice and holds the cabbage under the brine, and top with a loosely-sealed plastic lid.

Some other thoughts:

• A 3-4 pound cabbage makes about a quart of kraut.
• Use a total of 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of kraut. Measure it out beforehand and sprinkle it in evenly as you go.
• More salt preserves better; less salt tastes better. As long as you keep the cabbage submerged and the top on (but not tight), you can usually keep the kraut from getting moldy.
• Mold or “scum” (usually kahm yeast) is not dangerous, but it doesn’t taste good. You can safely scrape it off (taking a layer of kraut with it, if the gunk isn’t free-floating) and the rest of the kraut is OK to eat.
• You can season kraut. Try:
  • 1-2 Tbl Caraway seeds
  • 1-2 Tbl mustard seeds plus 1-2Tbl prepared horseradish, dispersed evenly throughout the kraut
  • Add red pepper flakes, shredded carrots, shredded daikon, scallions, and ginger for a kimchee-like salad (this works great with nappa cabbage, and may need some additional brine)

Also, you don’t just have to eat your kraut straight. Try these:

• Crumble and brown sausage with a diced onion. Add shredded cabbage and kale, a diced tart apple, and cooked diced potatoes (boil them with a lot of salt!). At the last minute, stir in about a cup of kraut and just heat it through. Top with cheddar, if you’re feeling decadent.
• Add well-drained kraut to potato pancakes.
• Mix 1/4 c. kraut or pickle juice, 1/4 c. vinegar, 1/4 c. salad oil, and 1 Tbl prepared mustard. Mix together and use as salad or slaw dressing.

We had a small, fun group for our apple turnover class, led by J.J. Jacobson (the Culinary Curator) on October 11th. Turnovers, for the uninitiated, are a buttery, flaky crust wrapped around half a peeled, sliced apple, spiced with cinnamon. Sort of a hand-held pie, but the crust was a revelation (at least to me). Far easier to work with than pie crust – more elastic and forgiving. Beats me how this works, because the ingredients and methods look very similar to pie crust (though we used all-purpose rather than pastry flour).They tasted amazing – truly the best baked-apple-pastry thing I’ve ever had.

The recipe is after the cut!

Apple Turnover Recipe

Yield: 4 turnovers

For the dough:

• ap  flour       1 1/4c
• baking powder   1/8t
• sugar   1/2t
• salt    ¼ t
• unsalted butter -3
• ice water       ~1/4c

Cut butter into small pieces and chill.  Combine dry ingredients. Break butter into dry with fingers or pastry cutter until pea sized.   (Try freezing and using processor.)  Add water all at once and mix just till dough comes together.  Divide into 4  pieces, flatten well,  and chill, covered with plastic, for at least half an hour.  Roll thin, making ovals ~10″x6″ for large apples

Then to make the turnovers…

• sugar   ~6T
• flour   ~1 1/2T
• apples  2 lg
• cinnamon        ~1/2t
• butter  4t
• egg whites or water      1/2

Peel, halve and core the apples. Then cut each half into 4 slices, lengthwise, and reassemble each half.

Paper or grease pans and set up dough.

On one half of each oval make a little pile of 1t each sugar and flour.  Put reassembled halves of apples on top, and sprinkle on 2t sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. On top of this place ~1t of soft butter. Fold over (leave slight edge of bottom half), mold around apple, and crimp shut, fluting edge as for pie shell.  Brush on egg white or water and sprinkle on more sugar. Bake 425°  for 15 min, then turn oven down to 400° and bake until golden brown, ~30 min. Cool on rack, serve warm

Old-fashioned, homemade sauerkraut is nothing like the salty, sharp kind you get at the store. Instead, it’s tangy, crunchy, and full of healthy probiotics (like in yogurt). It’s also really easy to make!

Bring one head of green cabbage, the fresher the better. You’ll also need to bring a wooden spoon and about 1 gallon’s worth of containers. If you don’t have the traditional pickling crock, you can use any of the following:

• The ceramic liner of a crockpot you don’t plan on using for a couple months and a 1-gallon freezer bag
• A clean, food-grade plastic pail and its lid, or a freezer bag
• Two half-gallon mason jars  and plastic lids <–these are actually my favorite kraut pickling jars
• Four quart-sized mason jars and plastic lids (or just bring one or two and make less kraut for this first trial run)

Sunday, November 8th
2-4:30pm
Pittsfield Grange
3337 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI

Cost is $5; free for members of the Grange. RSVP here!

If you’ve been enjoying Preserving Traditions events, you might consider joining the Grange! The Grange is full of folks who are interested in old-fashioned food and friendship…it’s part of the reason Preserving Traditions has been such a great fit.

As a member of the Grange, you’ll attend all Preserving Traditions events for free and get first chance to sign up for our most popular (and space-limited) events, like canning work days and farm visits. As a member of the Grange, you’ll have be able to participate in monthly potlucks and hear interesting presenters. There’s also a discount on the Grange’s family dances, and membership in the national Grange organization, as well, giving you a voice in local, state, and national Grange business. (And yes, there is actually a secret handshake!)

Annual membership is $40 (or $70 for the whole family), but we’re running a “special” this year: if you sign up before December, we’ll extend your membership through December 2010. You can download an application and mail it to our membership director, Joan Hellmann (info is on the application).

Sept. 27^th was the first Preserving Traditions workshop in animal processing. We learned to kill, pluck, and clean chickens at Back Forty Acres farm in Chelsea.

We started with a tour of the farm. Stephanie and Larry Doll raise meat and egg chickens, goats, sheep, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and hogs. The laying hens have the run of a large enclosure (I’d guess it was over a quarter of an acre) and a hoophouse-type “coop” for  protection from the weather. The hens keep most of the grass and weeds very low, but one type of weed (not sure what kind) stands nearly 3’ tall throughout the pen. This has a sort of “forest” effect, providing shade and shelter, and a little camouflage from hawks. The pen is surrounded by an electrified net, which the Dolls say is sufficient to keep out coyotes and other predators.

The meat birds (including turkeys) are in “pasture pens” made out of PVC pipe, wire fencing, and a corrugated roof over part of the pen. These pens get moved to fresh grass daily, so the birds have plenty of greenery and bugs to supplement their chicken feed.

Some of the turkeys are Bourbon Red and Slate Gray heritage breeds, and they were a hoot! Every once in a while, they would all gobble in unison. That made the people laugh, and the laughter made the turkeys gobble again.

After the tour, we returned to the barn for  an overview of the chicken cleaning process, and then it was time to do the deed. Each person placed her or his chicken upside down in a cone, cut the jugular veins with a knife, and waited for the chicken to bleed out. It took less than a minute for the chickens to close their eyes and go still, though they would often twitch some in the next few minutes.

Then we dunked the birds in hot water, plucked them, and removed the head, feet, and oil gland. Gutting was next, and cleaning any of the giblets we wanted to keep, and finally simmering and “peeling” the chicken feet in order to clean them for soup-making. There are lots of very good descriptions of this process on the web, so I won’t go into that detail here.

The mood at the event was respectful, but not at all morbid. All of us were there because we find something intriguing about the life-to-death-to-dinner process. Most of us have seen video of factory farms and industrial slaughter operations, and the opinion was unanimous that this life and death are far more humane than anything industrial agriculture has to offer. And while some may argue that taking any life for food is unacceptable, it was pretty clear to us that if one were to choose to eat meat, it would be ideal if it could all be produced this way.  In fact, several folks at the workshop saw the class as a step toward raising their own small livestock. Others said that now that they’ve had the experience, they’re happy to let small farmers like the Dolls raise their meat animals and have them processed.

I really believe that as oil becomes more scarce, our industrial agriculture system is going to fail. We won’t be able to ship animals long distances to huge slaughter/processing facilities, then ship the refrigerated meat halfway across the country to be sold for 99 cents a pound. If we continue to eat meat at all, it will be raised on small farms near where we live.

If you are financially able, I strongly suggest you start supporting local farmers for as much of your food as possible. Doing so will ensure that they will be in business when we really need them. Here are some resources to help you find local food in the SE Michigan area:

• Kim Bayer’s list of local food sources
• ArborWiki’s list

Sept. 26^th was Apple Day at the Grange.* This is an annual event that features all things apple. Inside, we had an apple-themed bake sale. Apple-rhubarb pie, a variety of apple cakes, apple baklava, and any number of cakes and cookies with applesauce in them. There was also an apple tasting – 15 or so varieties of apples, both fresh and dried crispy, many of which I’d never heard of before. And finally, some craft activities and displays (including one on food preservation methods that I set up).

Outside was where the real action was happening: a demo of making apple sauce and apple butter, and the make-your-own-cider activity. The apple sauce was made in batches throughout the day and doled out in paper cups to anyone who wanted them. We probably sauced 50 pounds of apples for sampling. Follow the cut for a visual tour of how to make your own apple cider! I would guess 50+ people came for the cider-making…and I have to say, it was really, really cool. I hadn’t reckoned just how neat it would be to make my own cider. I brought a tubful of apples from a neighbor’s tree. They were sweet, but lumpy, the way backyard trees often are. Farmer Lutz was there, selling several varieties of apples, so I picked a peck of something green and tart…I don’t remember the variety, but it might have been a Greening. In any case, I figured one part tart and two parts sweet apples would probably make a pretty good cider.

First, you dump all your apples into a milk crate set on a pallet and hose them off. Then you grind the apples into a pan. There were two grinders set up – one with an old-fashioned flywheel handle, and one on an electric motor. The motorized grinder was quite fun to use. You toss the apples in and zzzzrpt! It’s pulverized in half a second, spraying tiny bits of apple into your hair. It’s far more satisfying than using a document shredder, but a similar sort of glee. (See videos of the electric and manual apple grinders.)

Then take your pan of apple mush to the press. Pour the mush into a strainer bag, place the squeezer board on top, and start closing the press. Cider pours out the spout into a bucket, and when it’s done, you pour the cider through a strainer and a funnel into your jug. Pressing a gallon of cider required about half a bushel of apples and took under ten minutes. As soon as I was done, I wanted to do it again!

How did it taste? Pretty darn good. I could see myself really getting into cider-making, experimenting with different kinds of apples and chasing the elusive “prefect balance.” But really – mixing a few tart apples into your sweets makes a really good cider, no muss, no fuss. I might do 3:1 (sweet:tart) instead of 2:1 next time, but it’s fine.

If you are jonesing to press your own cider this year, check out Parker Mills park on October 17-18. You’ll need to make an appointment (on the half-hour between 9 and 5), but you’ll have the use of old-fashioned grinders and presses for the full half-hour. Bring lots of empty jugs!

It’s the apple time of year…come learn to make luscious apple turnovers with Preserving Traditions! JJ Jacobson, chef, blogger, and curator of all things culinary at the Bentley Historical Library, will show us how to make the pastry and the apple filling for these tasty pocket pies.

Bring two apples of a tart, crisp, baking variety (cortlands, empires, or spys are good bets right now). We’ll provide the rest of the ingredients, and you’ll take home (or scarf down…) two turnovers.

October 11th
2-4:30pm
Pittsfield Grange
RSVP at http://appleturnovers.sign-up-sheet.com/

$5 donation suggested; free for Grange members.

September saw two tomato canning workshops with Preserving Traditions: one at our original Ann Arbor / Pittsfield Grange location, and the first-ever event at our West Bloomfield / Westacres location! Here are the reports…

Sept. 13, at the Grange

Over a dozen canners turned out to learn the basics of water-bath canning, converting many pounds of tomatoes into sixteen quarts of canned chopped tomatoes. In a rarely-seen event, the tomatoes chopped exactly filled the jars available, which exactly filled the two canning kettles we had on the stove! Y’all have been warned, it never works out that perfectly at home.

The next Ann Arbor event will be Apple Turnovers on October 11th.

Sept. 20, Westacres

The Preserving Traditions-West Bloomfield Tomato Canning event was a hoot!  We ended up with 4 enthusiastic canners from 4 different experience levels.  One participant was fairly proficient at canning, one was an “ex-canner”, another had only made jam and the last was completely new to the whole canning experience.  The approach was very laid back with much support and input by all attendees,complete  with active discussions!  One conversation revolved around why our mothers learned to can from *their* mothers, but didn’t pass that knowledge to us.  Why was that?  Was it because of too many memories laboring over a hot stove in a summer kitchen that lacked air conditioning?  Were our mothers the result of the convenience food era, that canning was considered “backward” or unsophisicated?  Our “ex-canner” spoke on behalf of our mothers, and confirmed that these reasons could have very well lead to the broken link between generations.  However, with use of the commercial kitchen at the Westacres clubhouse we had lots of room in which to work, a relativity cool kitchen that didn’t need the aid of air conditioning and best of all great company that made the task all the more enjoyable!

Our October 18th event will involve making no-knead bread and saurkraut.  Won’t you join us?

I’m doing my first workshop on stocking a pantry to live out of! This workshop aims to appeal to a variety of folks: those who want to save money, those who want quick meal prep, and those who think the economy is going to collapse but aren’t quite ready to join a peak oil group or move to a commune. Here’s the announcement:

Oct 10: Stocking your Pantry

Join us at 10 AM on Saturday Oct 10 at St. Paul’s Church Elementary School (495 Earhart Rd., Ann Arbor) when Emily Springfield, a member and organizer of Ann Arbor’s Preserving Traditions club (http://preservingtraditions.wordpress.com), will present a workshop on Pantry Staples. Having easily-stored staples on hand will make meal preps easy, and Emily will even share some simple recipes to which you need only add vegetables or meat. In addition, Emily will share tips on basics to have on hand in case of emergency (think blizzard or tight funds), items you could buy in bulk or on sale to stockpile.

Cost is only $5 and includes the workshop and munchies. We promise to let you go by noon. Please RSVP to Ruth Zielke 994 3718 (azielke914@comcast.net). Bring your friends. Ask that nice woman who sits in front of you every Sunday if she will join you. There will be time for sharing tips and stories, too. It will be great to be together. There is no home game, so you won’t even have to worry about traffic! Treat yourself to great fellowship!

Hi, folks! Nice to have you here at the site. Canning is definitely making a comeback, as you can tell by all the buzz around Ann Arbor and across the US. Glad you’re a part of it!

You might be especially interested in the following:

• Our calendar of events – through Google Calendar, so you can subscribe and have it display next to your own Google Calendar
• Our “store” on Cafe Press, where you can buy “Yes. We Can.” logo items. You can also get aprons with the logo at Downtown Home and Garden – canning equipment headquarters of Ann Arbor