Category Archives: Food Storage

Wendy Dewitt’s Food Storage Seminars

Disclaimer: I originally posted this 11 years ago but felt the need to update it and include more information.

Whether or not you have your food storage in place or are just beginning, there is so much to learn from Wendy Dewitt (Everything Under The Sun). I always thought Wendy Dewitt had a great food storage plan on her website but it’s even better because she has video taped a few seminars based on her plan. She does love her Sun Oven (I do not have one yet) and if you choose to purchase one or any other type of alternate cooking device, I suggest you use it NOW! There is a learning curve to alternate anything (whether that’s cooking or baking with sourdough) and you do not want to be learning (and failing) when you are operating from a place of scarcity.

Despite the fact that she is Mormon (and speaking to Mormons), she is not overly religious in her presentation. I am only mentioning her religion for those who may be offended by anything religious (or not of your religion).

I have found three (2 older ones and 1 updated version of her seminar) on YouTube and the quality of them shows (the oldest one was recorded in 2008). I downloaded them, did my best to adjust the quality (there is only so much I could do with the audio), and uploaded them to my channel.

Here are the download links for the handouts for the first two videos (in English and Spanish):

Filmed in 2005 in Gilbert, Arizona:

Filmed in November of 2008:

And this is her updated seminar (and handout), “Sensible Food Storage” from 2011

Canning Potatoes

Yesterday, I canned my first batch of potatoes. I will be canning both red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I purchased two 10 pound bags of red potatoes (I figured this was the best choice, since the only other option was russet potatoes) and two 10 pound boxes of sweet potatoes.

This was one of the easiest things to do! I left the skins on, cut them in half or quarters (depending on their size), and followed the directions here: http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/canning-potatoes/. They all sealed beautifully and only two sucked up some of the water (the jars are about half full of water) so those will be used first (miss paranoid here).

The 20 pounds of red potatoes filled 19 quart jars (with a few left over so I could enjoy them with dinner) and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes filled 14 jars (actually 16 but I did not want to pressure can 2 jars so mashed sweet potatoes were for lunch and dinner the next day).

Further down on the web page above page is instructions for canning sweet potatoes. That is how I will be doing the sweet potatoes tonight:

Sweet Potatoes canned:

Boil first for about 5 min. so as the skins will rub off.

Leave small ones whole/ or cut,

Pack into jars

Fill with water or med. syrup (med. syrup: 3 1/4 cup sugar and 5 cups water= 7 cups syrup)

Leave 1 inch head space, remove air bubbles

Pressure can 10 pounds for:

Pints: 1 hour 5 minutes
Quarts: 1 hour and 30 minutes

I packed in syrup but a light syrup instead. I went looking around for light syrup recipes that would allow me to incorporate honey. I found this page (http://www.pickyourown.org/sugarsolution.htm), and it turns out you can replace half the sugar with honey! That’s what I did!

I love fresh sweet potatoes but after seeing how the red potatoes bleached out (no longer red) I am afraid of blah, bland sweet potatoes. I have not tried the sweet potatoes yet but last night we had corned beef hash with the canned red potatoes. I cubed them, put plenty of oil in the pan, let it brown without moving it around much, then removed them from the pan. We added them back right before the eggs were set. They tasted wonderful! They did not have that canned potato smell when we opened up the jar, and tasted just like boiled potatoes right out of the jar!

I Got My Pressure Canner!

Presto Canner


After 20 years of waiting, I have finally gotten a pressure canner! I am so excited I can hardly think straight. This was my Christmas present from my husband (in addition to loving me, I think it was mostly to get me to stop bugging him about it). It’s a Presto 16 quart.

The third day, I was re-canning some of my #10 cans of food. I never wanted to open the cans because I did not want to freeze the leftovers. I processed all foods for the recommended times/pressure settings and they all turned out really nice! All except my beets. They look bleached out but one thing I noticed as I was opening up the can of pickled beets. They use high fructose corn syrup! I’ll be making my own from now on.

My first big canning project is going to be chicken. Yeah, I know. Meat first? Yup. See, we buy a lot of whole chickens and load up the freezer. Canning most of the chicken will free up that freezer space for something else.

The majority of the time, we only use whole chickens for my husband’s tacos and enchiladas. Those recipes require us to boil, then de-bone the chicken so why not cut those steps out?

So I went searching around and found this great blog:

http://lovehugsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2008/11/canning-chicken.html

Then I’ll use the bones for chicken soup. Can you tell I’m excited?

Miss Parloa’s New Cookbook 1882

One of the biggest treasures I have found online is from Michigan State University. It’s a site called Feeding America and features over 70 American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century. I really can’t begin to tell you how much computer space I have in old cookbooks. If only I could have physical copies of them ALL.

Here’s one of the first I found (and tried recipes from). Please consider investigating the old cookbooks that are out there still. They can be invaluable, especially since they teach us so many things we have lost over the generations.

Miss Parloa’s New Cookbook: A Guide to Marketing and Cooking. New York:
C.T. Dillingham, 1882, c. 1880.

Here are just some of the recipes, which are fantastic!

Pickled Beets

Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Description

What I love about this recipe is, it easily allows you to adjust it simply based on the quantity of beets you have! This is rare!

Ingredients

Per Each Beet

Instructions

  1. Cut boiled beets in slices. Lay these in a large glass jar or earthen pot.

  2. For every beet, put in one slice of onion, on tablespoonful of grated horseradish, six cloves, and vinegar enough to cover.

  3. The beets will be ready to use in ten or twelve hours. They will not keep more than a week.

Keywords: beet, pickle, preserve

Pickled Blueberries

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 30 mins Rest Time 336 hrs Total Time 336 hrs 30 mins
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Nearly fill a jar with ripe berries, and fill up with good molasses. Cover, and set away. In a few weeks they will be ready to use.

Keywords: blueberry,molasses,preserve

Spiced Currants

Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add all of the ingredients (except currants) to a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir until thickened.

  2. Stir in the currants, and cook for 30 minutes.

Keywords: spice, currant, preserve, canning

Pickled Cucumbers, No. 2

Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Wash and wipe six hundred small cucumbers and two quarts of peppers. Put them In a tub with one and a half cupfuls of salt and a piece of alum as large as an egg.

  2. Heat to the boiling point three gallons of cider vinegar and three pints of water. Add a quarter of a pound each of whole cloves, whole allspice and stick cinnamon, and two ounces of white mustard seed, and pour over pickles.

  3. Cover with cabbage leaves.

Keywords: pickle, cucumber, preserve, can

To Cook Salt Codfish

Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. The fish should be thoroughly washed, and soaked in cold water over night.

  2. In the morning drain the fish and add fresh water. Turn on your burner to high, until it comes to a boil. As soon as the water comes to the boiling point, reduce to a simmer.

  3. From four to six hours will cook a very dry, hard fish, and there are kinds which will cook in half an hour

Keywords: salt, cod, fish, method, prepare

Salt Fish with Dropped Eggs

Difficulty: Beginner
Servings: 6 Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Put milk on to boil, keeping half a cupful of it to mix the flour. Whisk in flour with 1/2 cup of milk. Once the milk boils, whisk in flour/milk mixture.

  2. Add the fish, season with salt and pepper, and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.

  3. Heat water in a pot on medium high heat until it boils. Break each egg onto a small plate, then let the egg slide into the water. Poach all six eggs until desired doneness.

  4. Place the toasted bread on a platter. Pour the fish cream over each slice, then top with a poached egg.

  5. Garnish the dish with points of toast and parsley.

Keywords: salt, fish, cod, egg,

Salt Codfish, in Puree of Potatoes

Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

To Prepare The Potatoes

  1. Pare the potatoes and boil half an hour; then drain off the water, and mash them light and fine. Add the salt, pepper, one tablespoonful of butter, and the cupful of milk, which has been allowed to come to a boil. Beat very thoroughly, and spread a thin layer of the potatoes on the center of a hot platter. Heap the remainder around the edge, making a wall to keep in the cream and fish.

To Prepare The Fish

  1. Put the pint of milk on to boil with the onion. Mix flour and butter together, and when well mixed, add two tablespoonfuls of the hot milk. Stir all into the boiling milk, skim out the onion , add the fish and cook ten minutes. Season with pepper, and if not salt enough, with salt.

  2. Pour into center of the potatoes, garnish the outer ring with parsley, and serve.

Note

This is a nice dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Keywords: salt, cod, fish, potato

Salt Fish Souffle

Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Pare the potatoes and boil thirty minutes. Drain the water from them, and mash very fine; then mix thoroughly with the fish.

  3. In a small saucepan, scald the milk or cream. Then add this, butter, salt, and pepper to the potato mixture.

  4. Let mixture cool while you beat the two whole eggs. Add to potato mixture, spread in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes.

  5. Separate the last two eggs, setting aside the yolks. Beat the yolks. In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites to a stiff peak, then fold in 1/4 teaspoon salt and the yolks.

  6. Remove baking dish from oven, spread egg white mixture over the top, then return to the oven to brown. Serve.

Keywords: salt, cod, fish, souffle