In Memory Of Times Past

I decided that this year I would explore the world of canning, preserving and freezing.
I have not had the experience of doing it myself, as a child I was around and under foot when my Mother, Aunts, and Grandmother were canning, but I was to young and distracted to be taught much about the process. I did get to pick the produce and fruits then lug them into the kitchen. I also got to scrub the jars and get the old labels off of them.

There always was a whirl of activity in the kitchen during the harvest. The fruits each had their time to be put up; the vegetables had their time also. The first usually were the peaches sometimes strawberries, the women made jam and canned peaches in syrup. The apron and kerchief clad women where busy, peeling, cutting, boiling the jars, cooking the fruit,ladling the fruit into jars, fixing the seals on the mason jars and then immersing the jars into the water bath canners. In good years there would be two canners going at the same time so there was a cloud of hot steam in the kitchen and sometimes a Lilt home perm couldn't take the heat and humidity and drooped.

There always was chatter, lots of gossip, and I knew when it was getting good, I would be sent on an errand for something sure to keep me busy because the item wasn't where I was sent, just so I would be out of listening range. Upon my return the someone would announce "watch out little pictures have big ears!" and the subject of the conversation would be abruptly changed.

So, this year in memory of the women in my family who canned, gardened and kept house and home I choose to learn to as they would say "put up" or can some fruit. I bought a box of peaches (my trees are to young for fruit) and following a recipe I found on line I "put up" eight jars of peach jam. It wasn't as much fun as when the "Ladies" were here, but their presence was strongly felt through an occasional tear for times long lost.

I still had peaches left so I made a peach pie, tomorrow I will get more sugar and spices and "put up the rest of the peaches. No sense wasting any good fruit :)I can those women now "you didn't get enough supplies? What were you thinking? Tsk, Tsk, better get organized if you plan to do much of this, dear me. :))