My favorite thing about teaching a canning class — aside from meeting all sorts of interesting people and stuffing my face with food —  is coming up with new ways to incorporate preserves into cooking.

This weekend, Wade’s Mill cooking maestro Georgie Young had the genius idea of turning the Soy Garlic Cherry Tomato Pickles from Tart and Sweet into a wonderful bruschetta.

(And for the record, it’s pronounced brus-ketta, according to Georgie’s Italian friend, not bru-shetta.)

The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes, but we’re both proponents of using whatever is at hand, so Georgie used the last of the golden tomatoes that otherwise languished in her garden. She tossed them in a canning jar and topped them with soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic and fresh ginger and cured them in the refrigerator with the lid on overnight (ideally, this pickle should cure for a week, but we were short on time).  She then strained the excess soy and roasted the tomatoes in the oven until the tops were nicely brown and the kitchen filled with a wonderful tangy, carmelized aroma.

The pickled tomatoes were then spooned over fresh, crunchy bread dribbling with olive oil and, me oh my, it was like October in my mouth. So good.

We then made a batch of Vanilla Banana Rum Butter, one of my favorite recipes from the book.  The best thing about banana butter, aside from the rum infused, lemony flavor, is that it’s a “dump and stir” recipe — my favorite!   Just dump ingredients in a pot and stir. No excessive prep work other than peeling four pounds of bananas.

And because of their inherent creaminess, bananas break down on their own quite nicely (can’t say the same for apples or pears).

Though I did hit it with the immersion blender near the end so the finished butter was super smooth.

The banana butter was ladled into jars.

And sealed up tight.

Then processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Notes were taken (for the pop quiz at the end….just kidding!).

I brought an extra quart of Vanilla Banana Rum Butter made a few days prior….

which we spooned into a homemade tart crust.

The banana butter was topped with sliced bananas…

and covered in fresh whipping cream, homemade caramel sauce and roasted ground pecans.

It was disgusting. Absolutely repulsive.

Actually, I polished it off faster than a competitor in an eating competition.  My seat mate, a fellow writer, would have tied for first place.

Also on the menu: Grilled sausages and peppers with Horseradish Beer Mustard.

For these and other canning recipes, check out Tart & Sweet.

Thanks again, Wade’s Mill.

Last chance to sign up for a canning class taught by yours truly tomorrow, which will be followed by a multi-course local food lunch, at Wade’s Mill artisan flour mill in Raphine, Virginia. $40.   Saturday, Oct. 8.  10 a.m.

RSVP by going to www.wadesmill.com or call 800-290-1400.

Hope to see you there! We’re going to be making Vanilla Banana Rum Butter. Yum!

Come join me for a fun, informative fruit butter demonstration at Wade’s Mill in Raphine, Virginia on Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.

I’ll be showing how to whip up one of my favorite recipes from Tart & Sweet – Vanilla Banana Rum Butter!  Mmmmm!   I’ll also be talking about how to incorporate jarred goodies into meals —  fruit butter folded into cakes, a jam glaze atop tarts,  syrups into drinks, etc.  The class will conclude with a delicious local food lunch, conceptualized by mill owner-slash-culinary mastermind, Georgie Young.

Class and lunch:  $40.   Just the lunch: $30.

Reserve your spot today:  www.wadesmill.com or call 800-290-1400.

Hope to see you there!

If you’re in the Lexington, VA area, I’ll be doing a book signing tonight at Lexington Books & Co. from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Please stop by and say hi!  Light refreshments will be served. Feel free to pepper me with all your pickle, relish and jam questions.

Some of my favorite people in the whole world live in Portland so I’m particularly bummed I have to miss this event.  But my partner, Chef Kelly Geary will be there for a canning meet and greet at Pastaworks, Saturday, September 17 at 2 p.m.

Address:  3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97214

Cost: Free, though copies of Tart & Sweet will be for sale

Then she’ll be teaching an “exotic” canning demo at the People’s Co-op on Tuesday, September 20 from 6:30 – 8pm. The focus will be on how to take your preserving beyond typical jams and jellies and canned tomatoes, and safe tweaks to make an existing recipe your own.

Address: 3029 SE 21st Ave., Portland, OR 97202

Cost: Free, though book will be for sale!

I’ll be there in spirit.  Stop by and say hi!

Does anyone else’s refrigerator look like this — a collection of indeterminate canned goods?

I call this the end result of a handmade life, an insistence on making everything from scratch; you’re never quite sure what you’re shoveling into your mouth because after awhile all your canned victuals start to look the same  –  they look suspect (I also forgot to label these jars).

I say this as someone who wrote a preserving cookbook and I think I’ve come to realize that for all its merits, canning is really just another type of hoarding, right up there with collecting cookbooks and stamps and bird houses and Disney figurines.

We can’t bear to waste any fruits and vegetables so we shove them into jars where they sit half-eaten in the refrigerator for a millennium.  And because they contain so much vinegar they never go bad so you’re stuck with them.  Forever.

I thought I had it bad with the mad canning disease until I met a woman, a fellow handmade type of gal who also preserves like a deranged homesteader, who proudly declared she no longer uses plastic of any kind but packs her lunch each day into canning jars.

The image of this all-natural and conscientious woman lugging 47 pounds of glass loaded with crackers, tuna fish and brownies to the office each day made me laugh.  I couldn’t help but wonder what she carried it all in.  A wagon?

On the other hand, at least she’s putting her massive collection to jars to good use.

Just in time for fall preserving, Tart & Sweet is heading to the flannel capital of the universe for a multitude of canning-n-jamming demos and book signings hosted by my coauthor and chef Kelly Geary.  (Unfortunately, I won’t be joining her.  It’s too hard to go on tour when Jake is deployed and I have a toddler to take care of!  Next book….)

If you live in the Seattle area, swing by any of the following six destinations for some serious canning know how, a cocktail or two, an autographed copy of Tart & Sweet, and maybe a jar of Kelly’s award winning jams!

1.  The book tour kicks off with a reception at Smith gastropub where Kelly will be working with the chef and bar staff to create special Happy Hour small plates using recipes from Tart & Sweet, as well as yummy syrups for delicious Happy Hour cocktails.

When: Wednesday, September 7,  4 to 6 p.m. /  Where: Smith gastropub, 332 15th Ave E, Seattle 98112  / How much:  Open to the public

2. The next day, Kelly will be teaching a canning demonstration at Oddfellows Cafe + Bar.  A copy of Tart & Sweet and a jar of homemade jam are included in the price — a steal!  There are only 20 spots left so RSVP today.

When:  Thursday, September 8, 2 to 4 p.m. / Where: Oddfellows Cafe + Bar, 1525 10th Ave., Seattle 98122 / How much:  $40. / RSVP by emailing Tallulah@lindashq.com

3. Or swing by Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park after work on Friday for a Tart & Sweet book signing. Feel free to throw any canning question at Kelly.  Really.

When: Friday, September 9 at 6:30 / Where: Third Place Books 17171 Bothell Way, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 / How much: Free / For more information, click here.

4. On September 11, Kelly will be giving a “canning 101″ demonstration at the test kitchen of fancy culinary shop Sur La Table in Kirkland.  Participants receive an autographed copy of T&S plus a jar of Kelly’s homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.  UPDATE: This event has been canceled.

5.  Her final stop in the city is a book signing at Mrs. Cook’s culinary shop near the University of Washington campus. Come say hi during your lunch hour!

When: Tuesday, September 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. /  Where:  Mrs. Cooks 2685 N.E. Village Lane, Seattle 98105 (right across the street from the Barnes & Noble near the University of Washington campus) /  How much:  Free

6. Blackbird Farm in Woodland, Washington has teamed up with Kelly for an afternoon of snacks, canning jamming and talking about the artisanal approach to creating and preserving wholesome fresh food.

When:  Sunday, September 18, 2 to 5 p.m. / Where: Blackbird Farm, Woodland, WA (there’s no address or contact info on their website so you have to email blackbird@blackbirdfarm.org for details!) / How much: $20 / For their website, click here.

Spread the news to your Seattle friends!

Wow.  Is it already horseradish season?  In honor of the spicy hot root, I canned up some Horseradish Beer Mustard from Tart and Sweet to give away to bratwurst-loving friends during Oktoberfest….only a month away!  I can’t believe fall is practically here!

I’ve posted about this mustard before, but last time I made it, I used jarred horseradish because the fresh stuff wasn’t available.  Fresh horseradish is much more intense than the jarred stuff — grating it can sting your eyes like an onion! This mustard may blow your socks off.

To make it with real horseradish, combine 1/2 cup mustard powder (we like Colmans), 1/2 cup finely grated fresh horseradish, 1/2 cup sweet beer like Negro Modela and 1 tablespoon brown mustard seed in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.  That’s it! How easy is that? You can either transfer it to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month, or whisk in 1 teaspoon of vinegar and divide it among 3 4 ounce canning jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

I find this mustard really expands during processing. To prevent seepage while the jars are boiling , err on the side of more headspace than less.  I noticed the headspace requirement given in Tart and Sweet calls for 1/4 inch, which is incorrect.  Condiments like mustard should always be 1/2 inch.  I’m not sure how that happened.  Myself or the recipe’s creator Kelly should have caught that.  I apologize to anyone who made it and experienced seepage.  Or maybe (hopefully) it was just me.

Grandma and Grandpa drove up from Florida for three days, hence the dearth of blog posts. But to my loyal readers — thanks for noticing the absence. It filled my heart with butterflies and tulips.

I taught my first canning class Saturday morning.  It was hosted by Jim and Georgie Young, owners of the one-of-a-kind artisan flour mill Wade’s Mill, which has been around  since 1750 and is one of the few mills left that produces flours exclusively on stone mills. As you might expect from a 250-year old mill, Wade’s Mill flour is…..well, it’s like comparing the most delicate French pastry to a Sam’s Club birthday cake. Jake and I kill for a bag of their flour.

I admit, I was nervous about teaching the class.  I was afraid of sounding like an idiot — stuttering, scalding my arm in boiling water, that kind of thing — but I was concerned the mustard we chose to preserve, Horseradish Beer Mustard from Tart and Sweet, might be a teensy bit bold for the average eater.

The eighteen students who showed up were all super friendly and nice, which put me at ease.  And Georgie, who runs cooking classes throughout the year, made it all look so effortless and easy.  I tried to take my cue from her…in my limited way as she’s a seasoned pro-slash-gourmand.

Horseradish Beer Mustard is a mustard lover’s mustard — it’s bold and fiery; not the kind of mustard you eat with tofu, aduki beans or spelt chips.  It was designed to be eaten with meat, succulent meat – steaks, smoked meats, sausages and bratwursts.

I made a test batch before the cooking class, which I canned al fresco.

When it’s 95 degrees outside and you’re one of those weirdos who don’t particularly care for AC (that would be me), canning on an outdoor propane stove is the way to go.  You can check out outdoor stove options here.

Ten minutes of processing is all it takes to seal the jars.

Somebody wanted to come over during my test canning to say hi.

Whoa! A propane tank is no place for a baby!  A naked baby at that.

Back to the actual canning class: Once we finished canning, all of us lunched on grilled sausages slathered with mustard, chilled tomato soup utilizing T&S canned tomato juice and Wade’s Mill grits.  For dessert, we ate a peach tart glazed with another T&S recipe, Peach Lavender Jam.  The earthiness of the meat was a perfect foil for the fiery horseradish — everyone raved!  The mustard was a hit!  The lunch underscored the many creative uses for home canned food.

Thanks again, Jim and Georgie, for making it happen.  And thanks to everyone who showed up and smiled while I tried not to stutter.

Horseradish Beer Mustard was adapted by the New York Times, which you can find here.  For canning, add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar to the mustard mixture before ladling into three sterilized 4-ounce jars. Leave 1/2 inch headspace, wipe rims and seal. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes, adjusting for elevation. Can on!

For an autographed copy of Tart & Sweet, email or call this store here.

I was introduced to an amazing, Philadelphia-based shop today called Terrain that sells all sorts of eye-catching, pre-industrial inspired decor and accessories for the home, as well as clothing and jewelry.  A few rustic artifacts that caught my eye.

Weck canning jars, $18.

They’re chicer than standard Ball jars — strawberry conserves look so elegant and French in these babies — but they’re pricier too.

Hickory Coaster Set, $20.

These coasters made me do a double take because they look nearly identical to party favors Jake and I made for guests at our wedding, which also served as seat settings.  Ours were made from a fragrant cedar tree, which grows so abundantly around here it’s considered a weed. Each wood disk was burned with guests’ names. The coasters pictured here are advertised as “artisan” and “carefully crafted by a family of woodworkers in the U.S.A.”  I can tell you that means:  Sliced  by someone with a lot of weed trees in his yard!

Wire Floral Pendant, $208

The wire shade and bare bulb look seems to be quite popular these days; I noticed this gritty lighting treatment at bars last time I was up in New York. To be honest, I’m not so sure how I feel about staring up into a bare bulb while I eat (okay, I don’t particularly care for it) but with a frosted bulb, it might look very nice indeed.

Tart and Sweet, $24.99

Well, glory be.  Terrain is selling our cookbook!  Another reason I love this store.