[The Sanctuary] Preserving The Bounty

Canning: Jams, Jellys, Pickles Oh My! The Staff preserves the garden's bounty. This thread is open to all Sanctuary staff.

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

[The Sanctuary] Preserving The Bounty

Postby Kavala on November 18th, 2014, 4:59 am

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Timestamp: Mid Fall, 514 AV


The Sanctuary had large gardens that had seemed to do well in the spring and summer, still producing deep into the fall. Kavala attributed that to Caelum’s influence and some of the gardeners she took on periodically to help manage the grounds. And thanks to Xira and help from some of the other staff, it also had a greenhouse. So when it came time to harvest, there was far more than the staff thought they could use. That meant it was time to utilize some of their more valuable books and focus on food preservation. If the truth be told, Kavala was thrilled there was more than enough. She knew this was the second and third year in their conjoined effort to be more self sustaining. But without the harvest, it seemed there was very little hard work that could be done.

They had honey in abundance as well, thanks to the bees which Kavala also gave credit for the fruits and berries that seemed to thrive planted against the fences and walls where the stone absorbed the light and was warmer.

Their current crop consisted of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries they had collected out in the fringe forest and a ton of blueberries from bushes that had been planted. Then in terms of herbs there were mints, and a whole host of things they could dry and preserve that way. It was the fruits and vegetables however, that Kavala felt was really important to preserve. She wanted tomatoes in the winter and fresh pickles year round. So not only did they have the berries, but they had cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage for slaw, and onions which she thought they didn’t have to can but only store properly. The meat they hunted going into the winter would be preserved other ways on other days, but today there was a whole list of things Kavala wanted to do.

First and foremost was making jellys and sauces to can from the berries and a bit of the plums they had from the plum tree. She’d also purchased a crate of apples for apple sauce and filling for pies. There was a second crate of not so nice apples that she’d be using to make pectin. The jellies, jams, and sauces couldn’t be made without it. Then she’d done the same thing with pears and peaches. She’d also picked up a couple of cases of corn grown outside the city.

So her checklist read like:

Make Pectin from bruised apples.
Berry jelly – strawberry, raspberry, blackberry
Mint Jelly
Salsa, Relash, and Chutney
Can the rest of the veggies, fruits whole
Can the rest of the apples and pears into sauces.



So Kavala had gathered the children, Alyra, and anyone else working at The Sanctuary who was free to can, cook, and preserve and had decided to get it all done in one day. She’d already picked up the spare fruit, the enormous amount of sugar they’d need (both of which she got trading straight across for honey from her hives), and was all ready to go. She’d purchased cheese cloth, had a strainer from the kitchen. All the pots and pans and tools they would need were clean and set out ready for use.

“We need someone to juice the lemons I picked up since we’ll need lots of lemon juice.”
Kavala said, gesturing to a small basket of lemons and a little hand juicer glass plate resting by them. “That will need bottled so we’re all ready for it. The rest of us will be making pectin if anyone is interested in learning how. We need to make it to make the rest of the jams, jellies, and sauces. We’ll used the bruised apples.” She said, flipping her book and turning to the page on pectin. She read the page out loud.


Pectin is a naturally occurring substance found in berries, apples and other fruit. When heated together with sugar, it causes a thickening that is characteristic of jams and jellies. Without pectin, jellies and jams won’t thicken. Pectin is concentrated in the cores and skins of all apples, and is especially strong in tart green apples. It is made usually from apples that lack flavor or are past their prime. Using the cores and skins left over from making a pie is a great way use all your pieces. So if you are going to make a great deal of applesauce, filling for apple pie, and the like, do that before you make your pectin. You don’t need pectin to can these things, but you’ll need it to make jellies and jams.

Ingredients:
3 lb Apples
4 cups Water
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Needed Tools:
cheese cloth and strainer

Directions:
Cut 3lbs the apples into quarters or so. Do not remove skin or core them. Place into a large pot with the water and lemon juice and simmer until the apples are completely tender, but not disintegrated. This could take between 20 and 40 chimes, depending on the apples and how large the pieces are. Strain the results through a cheese cloth to extract only the liquid. To concentrate the pectin, place the liquid strained off into a pot and boil the strained liquid until reduced by half. Stir occasionally to avoid getting a film.


Testing Pectin Levels:
If you want to test the level of pectin in your reduction, put a few drops into rubbing alcohol and the pectin will gel almost instantly. Obviously this should not be eaten. Test pectin levels in each batch of jam or jelly this way, then discard the spoonful after the test. Jelly and Jam must have enough pectin or they will be running and not set up. Do not ‘finish’ off jam or jelly until the level is the desired consistency.


Kavala read the directions aloud, looked around, and quietly asked. “Who wants to get started on this?” If no one volunteered, she’d get going on. In the mean time, however, someone needed to get started coring and peeling and slicing the rest of the apples so they could throw the scraps into the pectin project.
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Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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[The Sanctuary] Preserving The Bounty

Postby Caelum on November 30th, 2014, 9:31 pm

The erstwhile healer and horse-trainer walked into combined living area and kitchen with a toddler in his arms. He was dressed in his usual attire of a plain tunic and riding leathers, though he had a sweater on over the top of it as a nod to the steadily cooling weather. He smelled strongly of the rising autumn winds and scorched sugar as he shot a smile at all of those gathered and wove his way toward the counter. Lillian clutched a giant glass jar filled with candied pecans to her chest and was smiling like a cat in cream. She squeaked a protest, though, when her father swung her down to a seat at the table next to Tasival. It was only because she wanted to be held, though, and she bumped the jar down onto the wood and nudged it toward her Akontak friend. Caelum proceeded to bend down so he could drop a kiss to Tasi' head in greeting.


"Can you open this? Will you open this? Daddy says we can have some if we can get it open." A smile stole across Lillian's face and she bounced a little in anticipation, watching Tasi.


Meanwhile, Caelum slumped down to a seat on a stool by the counter near Kavala, listening to explanation and instructions. He squinted a little at the recipe because the entire idea of pectin seemed strange to him, but then what did he know about cooking and food preservation? Very little, as these last few seasons since Alements was open had proved to him. In addition to just wanting to spend time at the Sanctuary and to lend a hand, that was another reason why he was here.


A paring knife was lifted from the array and he caught the heel of his riding boot against a low rung of his stool. Tossing an apple into the opposite hand, he settled into the bit of peeling and coring the load of them with swift efficiency. That much, he could do.


"Lils," he called. "You and Tasi can start juicing the lemons."


Golden eyes slid toward the door in time to watch Elise stroll in, a bright smile appearing. Caelum watched her for a minute before turning the whole of his attention to Kavala. The apple skin curled off in a long, coiling strip and in short order he was carving out the core and tossing the various pieces in the appropriate bins.


Reaching for another, he said, "We brought you about a dozen jars of sugared nuts. Elise was at it all morning after Meryn next door hauled over a crate. I promise I didn't touch the things." Humor glinted. "She wouldn't let me."
Last edited by Caelum on December 2nd, 2014, 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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