My work here is done.

I’ve been posting so much about preserving lately that this is starting to look more like a food blog than anything else. Well, I’m happy to report that I think I’m more or less finished in the preserving department, so I might actually talk about something else for awhile. As we leave this topic (for several months at least), I thought I’d share a photo of my canning cupboard.

It’s not huge, and there aren’t nearly as many canned tomatoes in there as I’d like, but we’ve got a lot of goodies to see us through the winter.
You may be thinking “How many kinds of jam does one family need?”. Well, those lovely jewel-toned jars are actually going to save me a lot of money and complicated menu planning. Armed with a huge bag of organic whole wheat flour (much cheaper to buy it this way) and a few other basic ingredients, I’ll be able to create simple and delicious meals and snacks (scones, muffins, pancakes, crackers, biscuits, crepes, bread, etc.) and they will never seem like the same old boring thing because we’ve got such a selection of flavours to jazz things up. The best part is, all of those meals will be local and organic. Almost everything I used in my canning came from my own garden (or from the garden of a nearby friend or relative), and the flour is milled just outside of the city. I made a real effort to use what I grew to make staple items that we normally pay an arm and a leg for (organic ketchup, salsa, apple sauce, pickles, dried fruit and jams), and that are usually grown and processed thousands of miles away. I’ll be saving money, eating locally, and reducing my impact on the environment. See, I knew it was about more than just the food.To revisit the preserving posts, or to see them for the first time if you’re new to my little corner of the blogosphere, click here.