Tuesday, September 14, 2010

THE DARING COOKS SEPTEMBER 2010 CHALLENGE: FOOD PRESERVATION-THE APPLE BUTTER OF KNOWLEDGE

The September 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge the Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John's source for food preservation information was from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Can you believe how fast time is flying? It's whizzing by, I swear. Wasn't it just a few days ago when we made pierogis? And now here we are with the new DC challenge!
I was both intrigued and intimidated when I read about this challenge. First because having been born and bred in a tropical country, home canning was not familiar with me, I don't remember my grandmother canning her vegetables and fruits because they were readily available most times of the year, secondly I'd have to admit, those charts made me dizzy. But after I read of the completed challenges in the forum, I began to see that it wasn't as hard as I initially thought. Thinking that perhaps I should can something I really like, I decided to make the bruschetta in a jar, and it was fun and easy! Now I can't wait to try making the rest of the recipes that John had provided.
I had a problem looking for the canning jars but I finally found two which were so expensive but I bought them just so I can participate. I used green and red tomatoes for my recipe, because I wanted them to look pretty when I plated them, and I wasn't disappointed!
Thank you for this challenge John. I am a convert to preserving food now!

18 comments:

Mary said...

That looks gorgeous with the red and green tomatoes! I guess canning really is a cold weather thing, as the jars and supplies are quite cheap here. Glad you were able to participate and enjoyed it.

Kristina said...

Your photos are stunning. And those jars are super adorable... totally worth the crazy price if you ask me! Look how fat they are!

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

Talk about this being an extra challenge for you. But you were incredibly successful, very beautiful plated with the colors.

Unknown said...

That looks great. I have been tempted to jar everything now :D.

Koci said...

I love how you used the different colors of tomatoes in this recipe--it looks beautiful. Great job on this challenge!

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

Your bruschetta looks so beautiful! I love those colors.

Heather Mulholland said...

Thanks for the comment :) I love the vibrant colours of the tomatoes.

If you are going to try a recipe and like pears I would suggest the Ginger Pear Compote, I accidentally didn't add that one to the list, but it was my favourite fruit one (I went back and did a double batch)

http://whippedtheblog.com/2008/12/13/pear-ginger-compote/

shelley c. said...

I love how it looks with the green and red tomatoes - beautiful. Interesting the regional differences in the availability of equipment and popularity of canning. You really did a great job!

Suz said...

I love the sound of the preserved tomatoes and yours look beautiful, especially with the different colours. Mmmm. Great job & beautiful plating.

I know what you mean about the time flying. It's quite scary how quickly each challenge comes round!

Mary Bergfeld said...

You did a fabulous job with this challenge. Kudos. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

Ruth H. said...

Your tomatoes look beautiful. I am sorry your jars were so expensive, buty Ihopw you will get a lot more use out of them! Great job on the challenge!

Sarah said...

Time really is flying by! Great job on the challenge...using green and red tomatoes was an inspired idea.

FabFrugalFood said...

Such a beautiful blog! I'm happy to have found you. Don't you love Daring Cooks?

Donna

VeggieWiz said...

Love the colors there....gorgeous!

And i know what you mean.....canning is not common in India either. I couldn't even find the jars! So i've just kept my pear butter in the fridge.

Marisa said...

Love how colourful your bruschetta tomatoes look! Well done on an intimidating challenge.

Anonymous said...

I love the colors in your bruschetta! Beautiful photos too! Great job!

Kel said...

Your bruschetta looks amazing. I really want to try canning something now. Way to go on the challenge, it turned out beautiful!!

Kris Ngoei said...

This seems like a fun challenge... canning and preserving colorful tomatoes are not only about conserving the taste but great for display too :-)

Beautiful photos of the tomatoes..

Sawadee from bangkok,
Kris