— Kate Yerxa In Maine, July through September are the months when local green, snap, and wax beans are plentiful. If you grow your own bush or pole beans, you may find they are producing faster than you can keep up with, and they are readily available at your local farmers’ market and grocery stores. […]
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— Alex Bosse Have you ever looked closely at the packaging of food products at the grocery store and felt overwhelmed? Between labels such as “natural,” “pasture-raised,” and “non-GMO,” you may be wondering what they actually mean for your health, conscience, and wallet. Marketing claims on the front of packages are designed to catch your […]
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— Kathy Savoie Spring has arrived in Maine and suddenly it’s yard sale and garage sale season. If you are in the market for a pressure canner for your upcoming low-acid canning projects and you spot a used canner, here are several things to consider for safety’s sake. Modern canners will include multiple safety features: […]
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— Sandra Mitchell, UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteer The Last of Winter: Cooking from What Remains By the time April rolls around, the rhythm of the kitchen begins to shift. The bins of stored vegetables—once full in the fall—are noticeably lighter. The onions have softened, a few potatoes have begun to sprout, and the […]
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— Kate McCarty I typically buy canned beans from the grocery store. They’re inexpensive and ready in a pinch. But with so many great varieties of dried beans available from local farmers in Maine, I decided to challenge myself to a new food preservation project and try my hand at making my own canned beans […]
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— By Kate McCarty UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteers recently attended Flowering in the North, a conference for flower growers in New England. We shared a rose petal jelly made from dried rose petals with attendees and it was a hit! The resulting jelly smelled very floral, like you’d expect, and had a subtle […]
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— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension The scent of cranberries, citrus, and spice signals the start of the holiday season, and what better way to get into the festive mood than by making homemade jam? Jamming for the holidays transforms your kitchen into a sweet-smelling workshop and lets you […]
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— Mary Kate Reny, UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteer We have officially turned the corner into comfort season, bringing with it the seasonal shift in food preferences and a whole different set of recipes to try. Wait! Too soon? Are your counters and garden still bursting with summer harvest that you need to preserve […]
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— By Lali Constantino, UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteer Drying is one of the most ancient and cost-effective methods for preserving food. This simple technique relies on the natural energy of the sun or the dry heat of a hot summer day. You can easily do it by hanging herbs in a warm, shady […]
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— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension It’s green bean and cucumber season here in Maine, and pickling is my favorite way to preserve these vegetables. I always can a batch of crunchy dilly beans and sweet bread-and-butter pickles to enjoy throughout the year. But every year, I hear from […]
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