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Show Peggy Layton Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Wednesday, October 5, 2005 Off the Wasatch By Roger Baker Bountiful Harvests Ideas for preserving and using your end-of-season produce By Peggy Layton Food Editor Lawn mower hobby? I found the old-fashioned reel lawn mower that I was looking for. There is one manufacturer in the United States that still makes a mower that sounds like a mower should sound. And it actually cuts the grass blades with slices as it rotates rather than chopping the grass to bits under a shrouded airplane propeller. And I must admit to looking good pushing it shirtless on a hot day, sweat dripping off my rippled muscles. People stop and stare. I’ve been fortunate in my new purchase. Pam hasn’t chided me too much about not using it as often as I planned. Even though I enjoy the sound and the smell, and feel environmentally correct pushing the mower, it is even harder to mow that I remember from the olden days. There are no good old days for kids who mowed lawns, but anyone who wants to recall these days can purchase a lone closeout mower at Ace Hardware in Ephraim or order one from Hermansen’s. What I really learned from my purchase is that people find interesting hobbies. There are people who restore vintage mowers for fun. They keep records on a webpage about what mowers were manufactured when. They exchange and handcraft rare needed parts. They even have a judging/rating system to evaluate the vintage mowers in competitions. I wonder how one falls in with the mower crowd and gets hooked on this hobby. Why not stamp collecting or saving old soft drink bottles or doing chili cook-offs or growing marijuana or even racing gas-powered mowers? I recently found another group of interesting people. They play the Irish bagpipes, actually named uilleann pipes and commonly called union pipes. They are the kind of pipes that are pumped with a bellows under the arm rather than breath powered. And they are hard to play. After a week’s work, I can make a noise. Perhaps if I practiced more than five minutes each day, but that’s another story. The fingering is complicated. Some notes require the player to stop up the end of the chanter with the leg. One actually plays the strange instrument with both arms, all fingers and one leg while sitting on a hard chair. And there are people all over the world who are committed pipers. There are websites and manufacturers and a group in Salt Lake that get together every Monday night to play at a local Irish watering hole. And that’s not all. There are Irish festivals as close as Littleton, Colo. that attract thousands of people each year. There are not only pipers, but dancers, Irish flautists, storytellers, harp and flute makers that are committed enough to perform and compete. One of the premier Irish flute schools is held each summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I wonder again how people find the hobbies they do. Another group I just recently discovered are the wood turners. The premier world symposium on wood turning is held in Provo, Utah each year. Some people actually haul lathes on airplanes and get paid to demonstrate turning hollow forms from Tasmanian Eucalyptus Burrell right here in Utah. The best wood lathes in the world are available from a company in Provo, though manufactured in Canada and Australia. One of the hobby groups that were in on the ground floor of Ebay were the computer nerds who needed hard-to-get parts. Another group was the Pez dispenser collectors. I can understand an interesting computer, but how does one fall in with the Pez crowd? Is there something that can be dispensed in a Goofy or Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser that I’ve missed? And don’t take the tag off your Vermont Teddy Bear or Beanie Baby. The collectors need evidence that it is the real thing. There are manufacturing dates to check and lot numbers and some are worth hundreds and even thousands just like the old tube radios and eight track players and typewriters and books that people collect. And what about people who collect old newspapers? Even though most Utah newspapers have been electronically scanned and are searchable on the Internet, there are still those who collect. Some have complete sets of obscure papers. Others collect papers from memorable dates like Pearl Harbor Day or VE Day or the moon-landing day. Our hobbies are hard to explain. That’s why I appreciate people who haven’t chided me for not mowing more often with my new old fashioned reel mower. Perhaps the fun part is owning a bit of the past. Perhaps I’m a hobbiest, not a dedicated mower, as romantic as that sounds. But I’m still not sure how I got interested in an old-fashioned mower, or a wood lathe or bagpipe for that matter. A5 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition The most important thing to remember about home canning is that you must follow the directions completely. No skimping on processing time, whether the canning method be a water bath, pressure canning or hot pack method. The cooking time is what will kill any microbes. As you go to serve your home canned foods to your family carefully inspect the contents as well as the jar. If the jar has leaked, shows patches of mold, has a swollen lid, or if the food has a foamy or murky appearance, discard the food and don’t even allow your pets to eat it. Freezing is another way to preserve food so it doesn’t go to waste. When freezing vegetables, which are low-acid foods, they must be blanched or cooked for a short time to kill the enzymes that spoil the food. Fruits are high acid foods and do not need to be blanched. When freezing fruits and vegetables, keep in mind that freezing does not destroy the organisms that cause spoilage, as canning does, it merely stops their growth temporarily. When it thaws out and becomes warm again the microorganisms will continue to grow. It is important to cook the food after The fall is a time of bounty and abundance. It’s the time of year that the apples are falling off the trees. Zucchini is abundant and the tomatoes are ripening. We see roadside stands selling corn and vegetables as well as fresh local fruits. We call it harvest time. My garden is overflowing with vegetables. My fruit trees are bursting with apples, peaches, and plums. My family and I can’t eat them all before the frost comes. So what do I do with all this produce? The old fashioned term of “putting up” food is a way of preserving it for a later time. There are hundreds of recipes for bottled fruit and vegetables. Some of the most popular recipes are for jams and jellies, berries, fruit juices, pie filling, apple butters, pickles, salsa, SEAN HALES / MESSENGER PHOTO relishes, tomato sauces, pickled Peggy Layton shows off spaghetti toppped with a sauce made beets, corn, onions and zucchini. completely from scratch with garden-fresh vegtables. There are several ways to pretatoes, onions, and apples in sepaPlace them on the tray. serve food. Home canning is one rate corners of the room; they can Dry the vegetables until they way, freezing, dehydrating or dryspoil each other. are hard. The fruit will be pliable. ing and root cellaring are other An excellent way to keep carI like to dip sliced apples into flaways. Food preservation is protecrots year round is to leave the carvored gelatin and then dehydrate tion from spoilage. rots in the ground and cover them them. When they are dry they taste Controlling spoilage or prewith straw or leaves to insulate like candy. venting it entirely them from the freezing temperaBananas deliis important. We See more harvest recipes next page. tures. As you need them uncover a cious when sliced deal with the small amount and dig them up. The lengthwise and dehycauses of deterio- For additional unpublished recipies carrots will stay crisp and maintain drated. Fruit leather can ration by first visit www.SanpeteMessenger.com and a wonderful flavor up to springtime be made by blending the cleaning the food fruit with a small of the next year. and ridding it of click Lifestyle. The following recipes and amount of sugar and external spoilers it is thawed. those listed on the Sanpete Meshoney to taste and placing it on cellike dirt, blemishes or infestations. Dehydrating is another way to senger website are some of my falophane lined trays. Dry it until it Next, we deal with the chief preserve food. vorites. The salsa recipes were is pliable. Roll the fruit and cellocause of deterioration, which is All fruit must be dipped in a given to me by Trish Jenkin phane up into a roll similar to fruit enzymes; finally we deal with the solution of Fruit Fresh, lemon juice Hernandez and can be found in roll ups. Kids and adults alike love micro-organisms (molds, yeasts, and water, or citric acid, which is “The Crazy Lady Cookbook.” this recipe. and bacteria) that can poison our vitamin C powder. This will keep The spaghetti sauce recipe Root cellaring means keeping food. the color bright and natural lookwas given to me by my friend fruits and vegetables that can be These are stopped by reducing and stop the oxidation of the Linda Mickelson from Manti. stored at a lower temperature in a ing the oxygen that most microbes fruit. This is her secret recipe that she cellar or cold storage room in a need, by applying heat or radically Oxidation turns fruit brown. hasn’t given out to anyone bebasement and used up throughout reducing temperatures (heat kills Place the fruit on the trays of a defore. the winter. them and freezing immobilizes She uses fresh herbs and An ideal place is where the them), or by increasing acid (add- hydrator. Keep a small amount of space around each piece of sliced vegetables and puts anything she temperature is around 40-45 deing lemon juice, vinegar, or citric fruit. Make them all uniform so can find from the garden in it. I grees year round. The types of cold acid) or decreasing water (such as they will all dry in the same amount love this recipe, and it is so weather vegetables that can be dehydrating or drying) in the fruits of time. Vegetables must be healthy for you. You can make a keep there are potatoes, onions, and vegetables. blanched or cooked for a short large batch and freeze the sauce carrots stored in sand, summer Home canning is an excellent amount of time before drying them. for later use. squash, and apples. Keep the poway to preserve the abundance. Peach Crisp 5 cups sliced peaches 1/4 cup each granulated sugar and corn starch Topping l/2 cup regular rolled oats 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour l/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon l/4 teaspoon nutmeg l/4 cup butter 1/4 cup chopped nuts or coconut 1. Using either bottled or fresh sliced peaches, place 5 cups of fruit in a 2-quart square baking dish. Note: Any fruit can be combined with the peaches to make 5 cups. Suggestions are apples, apricots, pears, blueberries, cherries, and rhubarb. To thicken combine a 1/4 cup of corn starch with the sugar, mix well, pour over fruit. 2. To make the topping for the cobbler, combine oats, brown sugar, flour and spices. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the nuts. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. 3. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown on top. 4. Serve warm with ice cream. Knaphus Tile & Granite “Old World Norwegian Craftsmanship” PRINTING Tile & Slab SEAN HALES / MESSENGER PHOTO The Messenger 35 S. Main • Manti (435) 835-4241 This peach crisp is just one of many recipies perfect for fall harvest. • • • Bathrooms Countertops Brick Pavers • • • Floors Fireplaces Cultured Stone Reasonable prices • 435-835-8045 • 801-360-3609 ~ Quality • Integrity • Service ~ 3rd Generation • Licensed & Insured • Manti, UT We have a REALLY good color copier! PRINTING, COPIES, BUSINESS FORMS, BUS. CARDS AND MORE! SUPERIOR SERVICE QUALITY GUARANTEED The family of Norlan Irene White wish to express their sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all who gave of their heart and soul with cards, flowers, food, money and expressions of love. 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