...putting by...

~tomatoes~

put by ~ to save for later use: "Some crops were so abundant they could even be put by"

~fig jam~

When i was a child, my mother and my grandmother used to "put by" or can just about anything that was in season. I have vivid memories of the hot, steamy kitchen, filled with the most amazing aromas. Fruits, vegetables, jelly and jam, we canned them all. I didn't really appreciate all of the work that went into all that canning until the first jar was opened. I don't think I had ever had spaghetti with sauce made from anything but my Mom's home canned tomatoes until I went away to college. And I have to admit, I didn't realize you could buy jelly and jam at the grocery store, and after tasting the stuff we had at home, why would you?

After I was married and had a family of my own, I would can with my Mom and we would split what we made. It was great to go to the pantry and open a jar of applesauce that we had made together. Our family loved it.

As our kids got older, I found that I had less time for things like canning and making jelly and jam. It was "easier" to just pick up something at the store. And after a while we forgot what home canned things tasted like. And I forgot about the wonderful and warm memories I had that went along with putting things by.

Not long ago, while cleaning out a kitchen cabinet, I ran across my Mom's recipe for "Never Fail Dill Pickles". Looking at that recipe took me back to the kitchen of my childhood, and the trip down memory lane took me here...

~canned tomatoes, "never fail" dill pickles~

...and here...

~grape jelly, fig jam, canned pumpkin, apple pie filling~

...and let me tell you, the journey was a good one. Thanks, Mom...