Plums in Syrup

Here's the first recipe we did at the canning workshops. For pictures, please see http://chowtimes.com/2009/08/28/plums-in-syrup/ (Thanks Suanne for taking lovely pics):

PLUMS IN SYRUP

Purple and prune plums are the most popular varieties for canning in syrup, but Damson and Greengage, or any meaty varieties, are also suitable. Remember that the plums will soften in processing.

3-5 pounds Plums
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 1/2 cups Water

Prepare 6 250 ml jars, rings and lids: Wash in hot soapy water, and rinse well. Place lids in HOT, not boiling water, for 5 minutes before using. Do not heat rings. Heat jars in canning pot with hot water.

1. Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Or, heat water in microwave until boiling, stir in sugar to dissolve. Heat to boiling again just before pouring syrup into jars.

2. Prick whole plums with a fork to break skins, or cut in half and remove pits. Pack plums snugly into jars, leaving 1/2” at the top of the jar. Ladle hot syrup over plums to cover, leaving 1/2” at the top of the jar. Remove airbubbles and add more syrup if needed. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre SNAP Lid on jar; apply screw band JUST until resistance is met –fingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining plums.

3. Fill canner with hot water to cover jars by 1”.

4. Cover canner; bring water to a boil. Boil filled jars – 10 minutes. When processing
time is complete, turn heat off and remove canner lid. When boil subsides - bubbles no longer rise to surface (3 to 5 minutes) - remove jars without tilting. Cool jars upright, undisturbed 24 hours.

DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

5. After cooling, check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Karen Dar Woon
Your Secret Chef
604-329-7240 • chef2u@telus.net

New Canning Dates

Since our previous dates sold out so quickly, the Richmond Food Security Society has agreed to put on some extra workshops on Food Preservation:


Tuesday, September 8th 7-9pm
Saturday, September 12, 1-3pm
Tuesday, September 15, 7-9pm


Classes are $5 each and will most likely concentrate on preserving the following produce: tomatoes, green tomatoes, and beets. Please bring canning jars, 250 ml or smaller, to replenish our supply. Each participant will go home with a jar of preserves.

For more information or to register, please e-mail arzeenahamir@shaw.ca or call (604) 727 9728.

Time Magazine's Article on Cheap Food

Probably the most hard-hitting article on the state of North America's food supply that I've seen yet. And, in of all places, mainstream Time Magazine!



Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won't bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The waste produced by the pig and his thousands of pen mates on the factory farm where they live goes into manure lagoons that blanket neighboring communities with air pollution and a stomach-churning stench. He's fed on American corn that was grown with the help of government subsidies and millions of tons of chemical fertilizer. When the pig is slaughtered, at about 5 months of age, he'll become sausage or bacon that will sell cheap, feeding an American addiction to meat that has contributed to an obesity epidemic currently afflicting more than two-thirds of the population. And when the rains come, the excess fertilizer that coaxed so much corn from the ground will be washed into the Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will help kill fish for miles and miles around. That's the state of your bacon — circa 2009.

To read the whole article click here

Put that bounty away for the winter

If you are new to the idea of canning and preserving, come out to South Arm Community Center for the next 3 Fridays and learn how to can. Chef Karen Dar Woon will instruct participants on easy methods of canning, using excess fruit and veggies that are coming out of the garden.

Dates: August 21st, Sept 4, Sept 11
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Kitchen, South Arm Community Center
Cost: $5

Supplies will be provided but if you can, please bring canning jars to replenish our supply. Everyone will go home with a jar.

Please register for these sessions as the kitchen @ South Arm fits about 12 people max. Call (604) 727 9728 or e-mail coordinator@richmondfoodsecurity.org

Chefs to the Field

Combine your passion for food with a very worthwhile cause. Join a couple thousand of your new friends at the 3rd Annual Chefs to the Field event at Terra Nova Rural Park this Sunday, August 9th from 11-3. Proceeds from the event go to the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society which educates over 500 kids every year on how to grow food.

Sample food from dozens of restaurants and then watch the Iron Chef competition in the afternoon. Wonder what the secret ingredient will be this year... last year it was sardines and the year before muskox.

For more information, click on kidsinthegarden.com

Guerilla Gardening

What a cool idea - perhaps for the land surrounding the tracks on Railway Ave?

Urban Gardens and Gardeners Wanted

Growing food in the city has never been so critical. Rural farms are disappearing and young people who want to get into growing food are having a hard time finding affordable land.

Backyard farming is one way to get around this. Many gardens in Richmond are sitting empty, waiting for someone to cultivate them.




If you are interested in knowing how to grow food in backyards, come out to O'Hare's Pub on the corner of Steveston Highway and Railway Ave on Tuesday, August 11th from 7pm on. We'll share drinks and conversation about the ins and outs of backyard farming. At about 8ish, we'll walk over next door and have a look at a newly converted backyard farm.

Hope to see you there!