To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day (27 page)

etables sold really are locally grown. Still, ask the seller

where and when the product was harvested. Most farmers

will appreciate your interest, and you will learn more about

where your food has come from.

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Perhaps the easiest way for the 21st century Pagan to

preserve food is simply by freezing it. This is admittedly not

an ancient tradition, but it certainly would have been if our

ancestors had possessed the technology to build electric pow-

ered freezers. Cryogenically storing food is the best way to

preserve nutrients that might otherwise be lost.

Enzymes in frozen vegetables can cause the color, tex-

ture and flavor to break down. This is avoided by blanching

the vegetables before freezing them. Blanching is an easy pro-

cess of boiling or steaming the vegetables for a few minutes.

Whether or not you choose to do this will depend on how

and when you intend to use the vegetable. I never blanch my

summer squash because I use it in chili and casseroles where

the color and flavor disappears in the dish anyway. However

if the appearance and texture of the vegetable is important,

or if it will be kept frozen for more than two months, blanch-

ing is recommended.

Before blanching and freezing—for that matter, before

beginning any process for preserving your food—you might

want to ask for the aid and guidance of a protective deity. As

with all things, which deity this is varies according to your

spiritual path. For me, the god Thunor is the most logical

choice. I believe that prayer should come from the heart, and

not be recited like a magical incantation, but my words usu-

ally go something like this:

“Thunor, strongest of gods,

Ward this food and keep it safe.

Let no hob nor púca foul these gifts of the earth.

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As the fare remains hale,

so I shall ever honor you with due faith.”

Blanch each variety of vegetable separately. Cut the veg-

etables into even sized pieces no more than one or two inch-

es across. Use about one gallon of water for every pound of

vegetables. Bring the water to a boil before putting the veg-

etables in. The easiest way to blanch your vegetables is to

place them in a metal basket and then lower this into the

boiling water. Start counting blanching time as soon as the

water begins boiling again.

The length of blanching time varies depending on the

vegetable:

Green Beans.
Three minutes. You can blanch the whole beans or cut them into pieces, whichever you prefer.

Broccoli
. Three minutes. Cut these into 1½ inch pieces.

Carrots
. Two minutes. These can be diced, cut into slices or into “sticks”, depending on your preference.

Corn
. Four minutes. Blanch the entire ears, and then cut the kernels off afterwards. If you want to preserve it intact as

“corn on the cob”, blanch medium sized ears for about

nine minutes. Add or subtract two minutes from this if

the ears are especially large or small.

Okra
. Four minutes.

Sweet Peppers
. Two minutes. Cut into strips.

Summer Squash
. Three minutes.

You will also need a second pot of cold water (sixty

degrees or less) to plunge the vegetables into just after you

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have pulled them from the boiling water. This is done to stop

the cooking process immediately. Put a handful of ice cubes

in a pot of water to make sure it is cold enough. The cooling

time is the same as a vegetable’s blanching time.

After cooling, let the vegetables drain thoroughly before

sealing them in plastic freezer bags.

Not all vegetables lend themselves to freezing. This

includes anything that is not cooked before consuming. Let-

tuce is a good example of this. Even without blanching, fro-

zen lettuce will be wilted and mushy when it thaws out.

The best time to preserve any vegetables, whether by

freezing or canning, is when the moon is waning (decreasing

from a full moon to the dark of the moon).

CANNING

Although more complicated than freezing, canning has its

own advantages as a method of food preservation. Canned

foods can be stored literally for years. And there is no danger of losing the rewards of your labor due to a lengthy power

outage.

There are two canning processes: pressure canning and

water bath canning. Pressure canning requires a special piece

of equipment—a pressure canner—and is more difficult. If

you find that you enjoy canning, then pressure canning is

something you might want to explore, but water bath can-

ning is better for beginners. The disadvantage of water bath

canning is that it is only suitable for vegetables with a high

acid content. The good news is that a high acid vegetable is

one of the most popular foods grown in American gardens;

the tomato!

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To can tomatoes you will need the following items:

• A water bath canner. This is basically a large pot with a

metal rack insert for holding jars.

• A large, ordinary pot. For scalding and then cooking

your tomatoes.

• Canning jars. These are available at most supermarkets.

They come in pint and quart sizes. The quart jars are

more economical. Be sure to get WIDE MOUTH jars.

Your canning jars can be used over and over.

• Canning lids. These are flat lids with a rubbery rim.

They can only be used once, but they are very inexpen-

sive.

• Canning rings. Like the jars, the metal bands that secure

the lids in place can be used over and over.

• A jar grabber. This looks sort of like a wide set of tongs.

It is used to lift the jars out of the boiling water. You

should be able to get this at the supermarket also.

• A ladle.

• Lots of tomatoes. You should have twenty pounds or

more. (If you do not have enough from your own gar-

den, buy more from local farmers.)

The first thing you will need to do is peel your tomatoes.

Fill the large (ordinary) pot halfway with water and bring this to a boil. Add as many tomatoes as you can and boil them for

three minutes. Drain the boiled tomatoes; then put them in

cold water. You can use another pot for this, but I just fill a clean kitchen sink with water and add a few ice cubes.

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Peel the tomatoes. Scalding them will have loosened the

skin, so this is easier than it sounds. As you peel the toma-

toes, cut them into quarters and put the pieces back into the

pot that you boiled them in, but this time without any water.

Save the peels for your compost!

While doing this, you can also be sterilizing your canning

jars. Your dishwasher may have a sterilization cycle. This

works fine, but alternately you can fill the canner with water, bring it to a boil, and sterilize your jars in that. They should remain in the boiling water for about ten minutes.

After you have peeled the tomatoes, take a moment to

pray for aid and guidance from a protective deity, as described earlier for freezing vegetables.

Now bring the pot of tomato pieces to a simmer, stirring

frequently. The tomatoes should simmer for ten minutes. It

is very important to stir the tomatoes or they will stick to the bottom and burn.

Your tomatoes are now ready to can! Using a ladle, fill

each jar carefully. Here you will discover why I recommend

only using wide mouth jars. No matter how careful you are,

at least some of the tomatoes will spill. (A canning funnel is not absolutely necessary, but it will make this part of the process much easier.) Wipe the top and sides of each jar with a

clean towel. After this, put ½ teaspoon salt in each quart jar

(¼ teaspoon if you are using pint jars). Put the lid on the jar and screw this down
loosely
with a canning ring.

Put as many jars in the canner as it will hold and cover

these completely with water. Bring this to a boil. Let it boil

for a full ten minutes.

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Using the jar grabber, very carefully lift each jar out of

the canner and place it on a table or counter. Let these cool

down at room temperature. During the cooling process you

will hear popping sounds as the jars seal themselves. When

you put the lids on the jars, you will have noticed that each

lid has a slight hump (called a dome) in the center. After the

lid “pops”, this hump disappears and the lid becomes flat and

smooth.

The popping means that the jars are properly sealed.

After they have cooled, feel the lids to make sure that each

one has flattened and sealed. If a lid still has its hump, the jar did not seal. This does not mean there is anything wrong

with the tomatoes; it only means that they must be refriger-

ated and eaten soon, just as if you had opened that jar. Now

screw the canning ring down tightly on each sealed jar.

Canned tomatoes are great for making marinara sauce,

chili or salsa. Best of all, the tomatoes came from your own

land (or at least from land near your residence).

MAKING JAM

If you are growing any soft fruits (strawberries, blueberries, and so on), it is easy to make your own home made jam. If

you are not growing any soft fruits, maybe local farmers are

selling them. You will need:

• A water bath canner.

• A large pot.

• A large, solid (not slotted) metal spoon.

• Canning jars, lids and rings. For jam I recommend small-

er jars. A quart of jam goes a long way!

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• A jar grabber.

• A ladle.

• Soft fruit.

• Sugar.

• Lemon Juice.

As with canning, the best time to make jam is when the

moon is waning.

First, crush the fruit. You can use a blender or food pro-

cessor, but some people believe this lessens the flavor.

Crushing the fruit with a potato masher works just fine.

Meanwhile, sterilize your jars.

Stir one cup of crushed fruit together with one cup of

sugar and one Tablespoon lemon juice. Put this into the large

pot. The pot will seem oversized, but the jam is going to

froth as it cooks. If you are using something extremely large,

like a good sized stock pot, you can double the amount of

fruit, sugar and lemon juice.

Bring this slowly to a boil. Use a medium heat, and stir

frequently. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to main-

tain a “gentle” boil. In other words, bubbles should be com-

ing up, but it shouldn’t look like the thing is going to explode.

Stir occasionally to ensure that it does not burn. Run the

spoon through the jam and lift it, letting the jam drip off.

Notice how it drips off the spoon.

It is important to familiarize yourself with how the jam

drips, because you are going to monitor it as it cooks to see

how it is thickening. Periodically run the spoon through the

jam and let it drip off. When the jam is ready it will start to f 206 2

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thicken, and the drops will come together to pour off of the

spoon as a solid sheet or a single big gob.

Remove the jam from the stove and use your spoon to

skim off the foam. The foam can be discarded.

Put enough water in your bath canner to completely

cover the jars (but do not put the jars in yet) and bring this

to a boil. Ladle the hot jam into each jar, put on the canning

lids and screw these down with the rings. When the water in

the canner is boiling, put the jars in the metal rack and lower this into the canner. Let the jars boil for a full fifteen minutes.

Finally, use the jar grabber to lift each jar out of the can-

ner. Let them cool at room temperature. As with canning

tomatoes, listen for the popping sounds as the jars seal them-

selves, and make sure each jar is fully and properly sealed.

MEAD MAKING

While we are on the subject of food related crafts, I should

mention mead making. Mead is a fermented honey beverage

that was once a popular drink throughout Europe, especial-

ly in northern climates. Saxons, Ásatrúar and other Pagans

who follow northern traditions (including many Celtic

Pagans) offer mead as a libation in our rites. In my book
Travels Through Middle Earth: The Path of a Saxon Pagan
, I devoted an entire chapter to the process of mead making. Your

local wine making supply shop probably offers other excel-

lent books on mead, and can offer personalized advice.

Making mead can be a fun and rewarding experience

for anyone, but for the Pagan who keeps a hive of bees it is

almost an imperative! A single hive can easily produce 50-100

pounds of honey in one year. In a good year the beekeep-

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er might pull 150 or more pounds of honey from his or her

hive. That is going to sweeten a lot of biscuits. After eating as much honey as they can, using it in baked goods, sweetening