You too can try canning this season

When I turned off Ribaut Road on Saturday morning, I looked at the white tents and said to myself, "How great it is to be in the Lowcountry and to live in Port Royal, so close to the farmers market." It is just a joy to park and shop.

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Ervena Faulkner

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With shopping in mind, I'm preparing for the canning season.

Some of my friends prepare food for the freezer. I do some of this, but for a week, I will be preparing food using the canning method. This big breakthrough in food preservation came in 1810 when a French confectioner named Appert developed a method of preserving food in a bottle. He had no idea why heating food in a sealed container preserved it, and it was years later that the method really caught on. It is a way to ensure having favorite fruits and vegetables all year.

There is basic equipment needed for canning. It all begins with standard Mason jars. The jars in which peanut butter, mayonnaise and other commercially canned foods come in are not satisfactory for home canning. Mason jars, named after 19century American inventor John I. Mason, are the standard jars used for canning.

They are reusable. I usually place them in a water bath to sterilize them before using, always using new lids. The screw bans may be reused as long as they are not bent or rusty.

Canning jars come in varities: wide- and regular-mouth quart, 11/2 pint and pint sizes. The choice of the jars depend on the size of servings. I use mainly the 11/2 pint jars since that serving size meets my needs.

I have always done a hot pack, meaning I "can" partially cooked food. The food is packed into hot jars, leaving the headspace (room for expansion as the jars process).

As with any project, there will be problems. Sometimes the jars do not seal. This can happen because the jars were too full or particles of food were between the sealing compound and rim. I usually wipe the rim before placing the lid.

You will hear the popping sound while the jars are cooling. If you do not hear the sound, a tapping of the lid resulting in a musical sound lets you know the jar is sealed.

Time and good sense are important when canning. You have to devote the day to the process. You must have time to prepare the vegetables and prepare the jars for the canning process.

Most of the time, you can detect what has been canned, but a good rule is to label the contents, thereby eliminating second guessing. There are two ways to do this: write on the lid with a permanent felt-tip pen or affix labels.

With the farmers market being opened Tuesdays and Saturdays, I can allow two days a week to can. Not only will I have vegetables from the local market, I will have vegetables prepared in the Faulkner kitchen.

VEGETABLE SOUP

2 cups chopped tomatoes

3 cups water

4 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules

1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

3 cups peeled potatoes

3 cups sliced carrots

21/2 cups cut green beans

2 cups corn cut from cob

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onions

In a 4-to 6-quart Dutch oven combine tomatoes, water,Worcestershire, chili powder, and 2 teaspoons salt;heat through. Add vegetables to soup mixture; boil 5 minutes. Pour hot soup intohot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process inbath.