Done

So in early October I posted my to do list.

Here is how that went:

Apple Sauce - 15 liters made and canned solely because a friend came and helped and pushed through with the boiling and mashing while I ran after and fed kids.

Beet chips: after 3 batches in the dehydrator and two in the oven failing to produce a lovely terra chip crisp snack - I decided to stop messing around with beets until I REALLY have time to mess around with beets.  And am ready to eat multiple kilos of them since Alister and Saphira both declined my experiments.

Carrot chips - didn't happen - but I did make a lovely ginger carrot soup.

Apple chips - lots.  Thanks mom for buying me the apple slicer for my birthday! It was a hit with Saphira too.

I also did about 4 kilos of peppers that I chopped up and froze.  I never got to the tomatoes before the prices went up (out of season) so they can wait for another year or two before I attempt it.

Pears: two batches - also extra tasty and hope to do more of them next year

Watermelons (2)- figured while I was at it - Picture something the consistency and sweetness of a starburst - but totally natural.  I actually prefer the dehydrated version to the real melon and Saphira eats them like candy (esp since we don't give her candy . . . . ).  The only depressing thing about watermelons is that you spend 18 - 20 hours cutting and drying the thing and to show for it you have 1 pint - that's right - a 1 pint jar of watermelon pieces.

I also managed to do the apple chutney and the mince pie filling.  Both were a bit more time consuming than in the past since I didn't have a food processor.  The food processor was one of the furnishing with the other apartment and while we have money set aside for one, I just haven't gotten around to doin ghte research and buying one.  So this year, the mince piece might not be so evenly minced - but I still reckon they'll be tasty.

Cranberries - you can't find the dried ones here and so I am experimenting with a tray of them now - burst and sweetened they taste almost like  craisens - though I think in the future the easiest thing to do would be to pureee it and then chop finely for fruit bites rather than try to preserve the integrity of individual berries.

I did stock up on lots of meat - but have done no grinding.  After various inquiries we learned that we would need to buy an electric meat grinder as the manual ones aren't good quality here anymore and its hit or miss to get one to grind.  We decided the cost of a new appliance didn't balance out the cost of saving on meat by grinding it ourselves (and then having all the clean up too).

Broccoli and cauliflower - This finally did happen, but only because a friend came and helped twice- getting the veggies cleaned and blanched and the kids looked after.  Until she came I kept buying huge amount of of cauliflower at the market only to eat it frantically throughout the week.  There were two weeks where the only vegetable we ate was cauliflower.

Zuchini - Did several batches of these because Saphira can actually help with it and I figured it would be good for quickbreads and muffins

Pumpkin - Froze one but didn't quite get to it before it started to spoil on me, so lost about half of it.

Besides my friend coming and helping out several days, the only reason I was able to do much of what I did was because Alister took a 10 day teaching trip to Siberia.  Now, Alister is a great help with the kids, and I really don't know how single moms manage - but still, I didn't really have to cook or clean much while he was gone, which leaves you a surprising amount of time for big projects.

Is it worth it?

So in the States - I wouldn't normally buy organic- it is just way too expensive. Here, it's easy - you just walk up to a babushka in the market and buy whatever she has. Sometimes it is about 10 cents more per kilo but way more attractive than the grocery store produce- plus you are supporting a local granny and its organic - right?

But now in the supermarket they are selling bulk frozen veggies. And they are the same price, even a bit cheaper than the same fresh produce I can buy at the market. They are already clean, already blanched, already frozen . . . is it worth stocking up on the veggies in season and buying guaranteed organic?

These thoughts came to me as I sorted and cleaned a kilo of brussel sprouts. 1st wash them, then you cut off the bottoms, peel of the outer leaves and sort them by size. Then you blanch them for a few minutes, drain them, and pop them in the freezer. It was much more time than I actually had to give to the project so we ended up eating generous helpings of brussel sprouts the next few days as I only got 1/2 a kilo processed and frozen.

While I imagine a time of people leisurely husking corn, snapping beans, and cleaning brussel sprouts, I wonder if what people really did was just eat their food with a lot more "impurities" than what we insist on today (obviously the corn still had to be husked). Even without freezers, they would have had to dry or can or pickle the produce - that is much more time consuming than freezing. And obviously people survived, though admittedly the life expectancy was shorter - but was it due to an improperly cleaned brussel sprout? For this year at least, I'm afraid the grannies will have to find another customer for their sprouts - I just don't have the time or patience for it this year when I can buy them cleaned, blanched and frozen for the same price at the supermarket.

Ukrainian Canning Supplies

After several more hours of fruitless searching I've concluded that there are no pictures to be had on the internet of Ukrainian Home Canning method.

Here is my pictograph 101 of Ukrainian canning Supplies

	Canning supplies and applesauce. Here you see the soviet canning keys and the canning jars. As well as a display of my yummy apple sauce that I really hope sealed
	Ukrainian canning key. This key works like a reverse can-opener. You set it on the lid and then wheel it around to clamp the edge of the lid to the jar.
	Kazakhstan canning key. Another form of canning key. Though not found in Ukraine, it seems to be easier to get your jars to seal. Here you place the key on the jar lid and pull the levers apart and down; clamping the lid to the jar to seal.
	A clamp on lid that should be used with the canning keys
	This is a screw on jar and lid - It should, in theory be easier to use since no clamping is involved - but the lid doesn't have a really visible "bubble" so it is hard to know if you achieved your seal.