Home Canning Craze, a Recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles, and an Interview with Home Gardener, Mo Gouin (Podcast #156)

by The Meal Makeover Moms on August 18th, 2011

For two long centuries, consumers have been preserving food by canning local and seasonal produce grown in backyard gardens and purchased at farmers’ markets. Home canning, or “putting up” as it’s often called, is growing in popularity — sales of canning equipment are up 30% — and now, The Meal Makeover Moms have taken the plunge and are jumping on this nationwide canning craze.

Our very own, homemade Bread & Butter Pickles.

Our motivation for learning the art of home canning is threefold:

> From August 14th – August 20th, Canning Across America is celebrating their third annual Can-a-rama — a week of home canning parties and seasonal preserving nationwide — and we decided to try our hand at canning by putting up cucumbers, kohlrabi, and onion.

> The folks at Ball sent us a Ball Canning Discovery Kit and a copy of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. They were just what we needed to try our hand at home canning.

> Janice’s parents have a friend in New Hampshire named Mo Gouin who has a huge garden with tomatoes, onions, beans, kohlrabi, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, and lots more. Janice spent some time with Mo this summer learning his secrets to successful backyard gardening and home canning.

On this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast, we feature an interview with gardening/canning pro, Mo and share our personal experience with home canning. We also feature a recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles that we created with the help of our intern, Annette.

A view of Mo’s garden from his deck. He has dozens of raised beds for his various vegetables.

Mo needs a ladder to pick pole beans from his very tall plants!

This is a small sampling of what Mo puts up each season. He gives much of his homegrown produce away to the local wellness center.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Recipe adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

  • 6 cups pickling cucumbers, cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
  • 1  kohlrabi (from Mo!), peeled and sliced into thin strips
  • 1/3 cup pickling salt (we used 1/2 cup kosher salt)
  • 1¾ cups white vinegar
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 1¼ tablespoons mustard seeds
  • 2/3 teaspoon celery seeds
  • 2/3 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combine cucumbers, onions, kohlrabi, and salt in a large glass bowl.  Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand for 2 hours.  Transfer to colander, rinse with cool water and drain well.

2. Clean jars and lids thoroughly with soap and very hot water (or dishwasher).

3. Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric in large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar.  Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.

4. Meanwhile, keep the jars and lids hot in a large pot of simmering water (so they don’t crack when filled).  We used the same canning rack and simmering water to warm the empty jars that we did to process the pickles after filling the jars.

5. Pack vegetables into hot jars (carefully!), leaving ½-inch headspace, and ladle in pickling liquid.  Remove air bubbles by pressing a spatula around the edge of the jar and add more liquid or vegetables if necessary. Clean the rim and screw on the top “fingertip tight”- tight enough to seal the jar but still be removed by hand.  This allows for expansion during processing.

6. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove stockpot lid and wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

* It’s recommended to allow them to sit for 2 to 3 months to become flavorful, but if you’re impatient, they will taste good in a few weeks.

Print Recipe

To quote Annette: “The home canning experience was confusing at first, but it was definitely worth the effort to make the pickles. It was very fulfilling to see and taste the finished product.”

Purple kohlrabi (also called cabbage turnip) from Mo’s garden. Did you know kohlrabi is a rich source of potassium and vitamin C?

Pardon the pun, but hats off to Mo for giving Janice a tour of his amazing backyard vegetable garden and for sharing his gardening and canning wisdom with us!

Helpful Canning Links:

> Fresh Preserving
> National Center for Home Food Preservation
> Canning Across America
> Canning Pantry
> Boston Food Swap

Feel free to share your canning adventures!

| | | Pin It
4 Comments | Filed Under CulinaryAdventures, Podcast, Sustainability, Vegetables, Vegetarian 

4 Responses to “Home Canning Craze, a Recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles, and an Interview with Home Gardener, Mo Gouin (Podcast #156)”

  1. adelaide morro on August 19th, 2011

    thank you, for sharing this info ,

  2. Recipe of the Week: sweet carrot ginger soup on September 14th, 2011

    [...] food discoveries this summer? Last month, we learned how to “put up” with a recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles. After a busy day fussing about in the kitchen with equipment we’d never used before, we [...]

  3. Teaspoon of Spice » {Football Friday} Canning Condiments on September 16th, 2011

    [...] So this year, inspired by Dustin, I set out to be able to contribute my part to the condiment section of any tailgating buffet. I bought all the Ball canning accessories at my local Ace Hardware and started reading recipes. My garden has had issues this year. But I’ve canned a few pints of: Pickled Okra, and Bread & Butter Pickles. [...]

  4. Ball canning recipes | Canning Pickles on January 3rd, 2012

    [...] Canning Salsa with Ball CanningEasy Quiche Recipes : How to Bake QuicheHalloween Recipes: Ghost CakesEasy Chicken Breast Recipe – Chicken Recipes EasyBetty’s Hot Wings RecipeQ&A: What is a good meat pie recipe?Homemade Jagerbomb Jelly / Jello Shots – Video RecipeWhere can I get a good homemade bread recipe?Home Canning Craze, a Recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles, and an Interview with Home Gardener, Mo G… [...]

Leave a Reply