Cannery

Eva's Initiatives produce delicious results!

The cannery has been busy this month; the Co-op is partnering with Eva's Initiatives to provide canning and presentation skills to a group of youth. Eva's provides safe shelter, training, counseling and innovative programs to help homeless and at-risk youth fulfill their potential to lead productive, self-sufficient and healthy lives. The youth paired up, and each team is preparing their own salsa or chutney which they will then serve on canapes during Eva's Taste Matters fundraising event at the Liberty Grand, November 8th. Consider coming out to experience: a distinctively Caribbean-influenced salsa, a surprising raspberry-fig-honey-dew chutney, and a very satisfying strawberry-mango chutney.

And the next community public canning workshop is February 22nd - spaces go quickly so register now!

Our Community Cannery Project, A Small Wonder?

We are proud that our Community Cannery has been named one of the Seven Small Wonders of Canada by the Small Change Fund. Our Small Change Fund project will provide subsidised workshops to several of our community partners, helping to address local food insecurity and giving people the skills to access local, healthy food year-round. Catch the video, below, the interview with Ayal Dinner, or have a look at the Small Change Fund website.

Pickled Asparagus and Fiddleheads

Submitted by Katie Sandwell on 5 June 2011 - 1:01pm

An original recipe from our master canner Heather Kilner - adapted from the one available on her website here: http://backyardfarmsto.blogspot.com/2010/05/can-jam-5-gus-and-barb.html

This is another recipe for those who cannot wait to can!

Fiddleheads and asparagus are some of the first signs of spring at your local market.

Rhubarb Jam

Submitted by Katie Sandwell on 19 May 2011 - 8:34am

The Bernardin recipe is available here: http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=135

This time last year Liz Driver from Campbell House Museum welcomed a group from the West End Food Co-op into her historic kitchen and taught us to make rhubarb jam the (really) old-fashioned way. We boiled the "fruit" over the fire, filled glasses, and cut circles of paper to be soaked in brandy and placed on top. After the brandied paper (which keeps mold from growing on the surface) we soaked another circle of paper in egg white and placed it on top of the jar, smoothing down the sides - this dries to make a more or less airtight seal. Jams, chutneys, and marmalades were sealed in similar ways for hundreds of years

Apple Butter

Submitted by Katie Sandwell on 20 April 2011 - 8:57am

Recipe adapted from Bernardin: www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=241

Apple Butter is a delicious wintery luxury - its strong, rich flavours give the impression of complexity but the ingredients are surprisingly simple. Usually the recipes posted here come directly from our workshops. In this case we used a slightly different version in our latest workshop but I just stumbled across this recipe, which uses honey instead of sugar. If you try it feel free to share your experiences in the comments!