Muscadine Syrup, Ties To The Past

Pop, Pop, Pop...   Pop...          Pop

These staccato, tinny beats are erratic and unpredictable music to the ears of the home canner.  The pops, heard after jars are removed from the hot water canning bath indicate that you've achieved a good seal, that provided you followed the canning rules, you will have a safe wholesome product to enjoy over the months ahead.

The other day I found some locally grown muscadine grapes at a local grocer and stocked up.  I had syrup on the brain.   Yummy, locally grown, syrup to use over locally grown blueberry flax pancakes.


A Call to My Mother

If much time elapses between my canning adventures, I always put in a call into my mother.  With her, I do a verbal check of my own internal canning primer to make sure I still have the steps right.  Sterilize, follow the recipe, watch the head space,  seal (are the rings loose or tight?), ten minutes in the boiling water bath.  She is a resource that I both treasure and appreciate.  I know she will not always be on the other side of my phone call.

 Why

Why don't I just buy syrup?  I can.  I do.  Yet, there is something about making my own that fulfills me in a way that no purchase does.  When I do for myself, when I gather my canning equipment, climb to get the canning pot from the very top of my kitchen cabinets, when I crush the fruit, strain the juice, wait over the pot watching for a boil, I am connected to my past.  I return to childhood watching my mother process wild mustang grapes in our central Texas kitchen.  I remember laboring in the Texas heat to gather those grapes.  I remember how our hands would itch, irritated by the acid in those grapes.

Making at home feels so very self sufficient.  It ties me to a little kitchen in a tiny West Texas cotton town where my mother was raised.  I never spent time in that house.  I know it only from photos but I can see my Grandmother, a full-time educator providing for her family.  I see her standing in her 1950's era kitchen in her cotton dress following the canning rules outlined by the state Extension office.  Perhaps my Great-Grandmother, who shared the house at one time, was in the kitchen as well offering advice and lending a hand.  


Part of this is conjecture.  It is my imagination of how I hope life was.  However, I do know this, canning connects me to these people because I come from a line of women that know how to "do".  We don't need a store for all of our wants and needs, we don't need a million gadgets, and we are not dependent on coupons for mass manufactured products.  We have knowledge and industry at our fingertips.  This is my heritage.

Links

Here is a wonderful guide for Muscadine Grapes from the Lousiana State University Extension office. 

Sproutings

I've had sprouts on the brain lately.  Around the new year, my fellow food enthusiast and sister, Elisa asked my opinion on where to find sprouting seeds as she was given a seed sprouter. I didn't have any good ideas.  Soon after, I ran across a blog with an entry about how much the author enjoyed growing sprouts and it really made my brain think.

I've bought sprouts over the years from the supermarket but have pretty much stopped in recent years as I have a difficult time finding sprouts that are fresh or with mold free roots. Then, when I find a good batch I have a hard time finishing them before they develop mold in my refrigerator. I always knew that some folks grow their own sprouts. I'd just never bothered, until a couple of weeks ago.

Now, I can officially say, "I grow my own sprouts." I ordered seed online and am experimenting with different flavors. Certainly, I'm able to create more variety at home than I can buy at the supermarket. The sprouts in the photo are basil and red cabbage sprouts. Yummy!

I'm still experimenting with different sprouting techniques and don't feel able to recommend any one device or style of sprouting but I will say, if Google is to be believed there are a lot of ways to grow sprouts. I can't imagine any of the techniques could go that wrong. After all, sprouting is what seeds are designed to do.