Wednesday Whatabouts -- Canning

Lately I’ve really been missing my grandmother who I lost last year. I can honestly say that she was my hero. She lived through the depression in complete poverty, and raised eight kids on her own after her husband was killed at a young age. She never went to school after the 8th grade, but she was smart. She taught English to make money for her family to survive on. Through the years, it was a struggle for her to have enough food to go around, but she always took care of her kids. Later on, she had a bi-weekly column in the local news paper where she told about the local happenings and of course told what all of her grandkids were up to. Through it all my grandmother was a rock. You would never know how much inward strife she must have had based on her outer demeanor. She was also the spiritual leader and example for her large family. My grandmother loved to garden, and she loved to cook. Every time I would go for a visit in the country I was always underfoot while she cooked. It always amazed me how she could seem to make a feast out of nothing. In the summers I would go help her with her canning. My grandmother was serious about her canning. She had a whole room outside that was dedicated to all the things she canned. It was always so exciting to see what all she had in there, and what all she would share. There were green beans, sour kraut, bread n’ butter pickles, tomatoes, apple butter, chow chow, pear preserves… you name it, she had it. It was how she and her children survived. While I’m fortunate enough to not have to can for survival, I do love it and I think it’s a great way to save money and the foods can also make good gifts. So in honor of my grandmother, my Nannie, I’m going to start up my canning and freezing this week. And like her, I’ll only use the Ball jars with the wide mouth because she says they’re the best.