Learn the best techniques to keep the flavor and nutrition of garden herbs going all year long! In this free workshop sponsored by The Trustees and Boston Community Gardens on August 10 between 6 – 7, we’ll cover freezing and drying along with making herbal vinegar, oil, tea, pesto, and syrup. You will receive the recipes and knowledge you need for your own kitchen experiments. Register HERE.
“Put up” your peaches using time-honored canning techniques for three preparations that will extend the bounty of your favorite stone fruits long after summer is gone. Learn the steps to create a compote to top your summer desserts and a syrup to bring sunshine to your winter days. We’ll also discuss the basics of canning and food safety. This New York Botanical Garden online class will take place August 1 from 11 – 1, and is taught by Stephen Nocera. $79 for NYBG members, $85 for nonmembers. Register here.
Please note, participants are not expected to cook along with the demonstration.
As the farmer’s markets are overflowing with a bounty of fresh produce, it’s time to learn how to preserve them for the year ahead! Come to the Boston Center for Adult Education on Thursday, August 17 at 6 pm and get hands-on with Kimi Ceridon learning to make shelf-stable jams, jellies and relishes using the high-acid, hot water bath canning method. You’ll learn safety tips, equipment selection and more. Final recipes may vary. Kimi specializes in fermentation, food preservation, do-it-yourself homesteading and gardening, home brewing, cheese making, local food preparation and other culinary specialties.
– Sweet and Spicy Onion Marmalade
– Tomato Jam
– Ginger Carrot Pickle
BCAE member price $51, nonmembers $59. Register at https://bcae.org/product/can-it-preserving-summers-harvest-8225570188
Julia Hallman, Formaggio Kitchen’s jam buyer and avid home canning enthusiast, is leading a Thursday, September 29 session on jam basics, just in time to prepare you for summer’s fruit and vegetable bounty. During this two-hour demonstration beginning at 6:30 pm, Julia will take you through the jam-making process from start to finish. We’ll cook four different preserves, one traditional, single-fruit jam plus three more unusual preserves. Our focus will be on the preparation of the raw fruit, the cooking process, and how to jar your jam. She will examine key topics such as the role of sugar, the importance of lemon juice and how to add it, the stages of cooking, and how to test the jam accurately for doneness. During the class, participants will be able to enjoy several examples of jam (with accompaniments!) to educate their palate. Lastly, to get you started on your own jamming endeavors, you will receive your own “Jam Kit” with all of the ingredients necessary (including Weck Jars!) to make your first small-batch jam! NOTE: This class is held at our Classroom Annex, not our retail location. The annex is located at 67 Smith Place in Cambridge, and we highly recommend reviewing the directions available at www.formaggiokitchen.com. $65 per person, Please be aware of our cancellation policy. Register online on the website or call 888-212-3224. Image from www.lavenderandlovage.com.
Julia Hallman, Formaggio Kitchen’s jam buyer and avid home canning enthusiast, is leading a session on jam basics, just in time to prepare you for summer’s fruit and vegetable bounty. During this two-hour demonstration on Thursday, September 15 at 6:30 pm, Julia will take you through the jam-making process from start to finish. We’ll cook four different preserves, one traditional, single-fruit jam plus three more unusual preserves. Our focus will be on the preparation of the raw fruit, the cooking process, and how to jar your jam. She will examine key topics such as the role of sugar, the importance of lemon juice and how to add it, the stages of cooking, and how to test the jam accurately for “doneness.” During the class, participants will be able to enjoy several examples of jam (with accompaniments!) to educate their palate. Lastly, to get you started on your own jamming endeavors, you will receive your own “Jam Kit” with all of the ingredients necessary (including Weck Jars!) to make your first small-batch jam! NOTE: This class is held at our Classroom Annex, not our retail location. The annex is located at 67 Smith Place in Cambridge, and we highly recommend reviewing the directions available at www.formaggiokitchen.com. Please be aware of our cancellation policy. If you are unable to attend a class, please let us know at least 48 hours before the class is scheduled to take place and we will give you a full refund or a credit for a future class. No refunds are offered for cancellations within 48 hours before an event. There are no refunds, transfers, make-ups or deferments for missed classes. Image from www.smallmeasure.com.
General Admission, $65.00 per person. Register online at http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/classes/
Wright-Locke Farm’s education programs for teens and adults are a great way to learn practical skills related to healthy living, small-scale agriculture, and the wonders of nature. All workshops take place on the Farm or at Saint Eulalia’s Parish (50 Ridge Street in Winchester – right next door) and are open to individuals ages 14+ unless stated otherwise. We hope you can join us for one or more workshops this growing season!
On Wednesday, July 20 from 6 – 8 at Saint Eulalia’s parish, learn the basic science of hot water bath canning and techniques for making delicious homemade pickles, salsas, fruit or vegetable-based sauces, and more. Education Director Rebekah Carter will lead this hands-on workshop that explains the necessary ingredients, equipment, and methods for safely making shelf-stable products at home on a small scale. Participants will help prepare and can pint jars of local bread and butter cucumber pickles to take home and enjoy. Tuition fee: $25 per person (includes jar of pickles). Register at www.wlfarm.org.
PLEASE NOTE: Registration for workshops is required. If you can no longer attend a workshop for which you have registered, the Farm will refund your tuition fee until 10 days prior to a program. No refunds are provided within 10 days of a workshop. Image from www.bunkycooks.com.
Wright-Locke Farm’s non profit education programs for teens and adults are a great way to learn practical skills related to healthy living, small-scale agriculture, and the wonders of nature. All workshops take place on the Farm or at Saint Eulalia’s Parish (50 Ridge Street in Winchester – right next door) and are open to individuals ages 14+ unless stated otherwise. We hope you can join us for one or more workshops this growing season!
Learn the basic science of hot water bath canning and techniques for making delicious homemade jams, jellies, conserves, fruit sauces, whole and half fruits, and more, on Tuesday, June 28, from 6 – 8 in the Saint Eulalia’s Parish kitchen. Education Director Rebekah Carter will lead this hands-on workshop that explains the necessary ingredients, equipment, and methods for safely making shelf-stable products at home on a small scale. Participants will help prepare and can half pint jars of local strawberry-rhubarb jam to take home and enjoy. Tuition fee: $30 per person (includes jar of jam)
PLEASE NOTE: Registration for workshops is required. If you can no longer attend a workshop for which you have registered, the Farm will refund your tuition fee until 10 days prior to a program. No refunds are provided within 10 days of a workshop. Register and learn more at www.wlfarm.org.
Join Julia, Formaggio Kitchen’s senior buyer and avid home pickler/jamming enthusiast, as she takes you through preserving some of the tastiest summer fruits and veggies at the Formaggio Kitchen Classroom Annex off Concord Avenue in Cambridge on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 pm. Julia will show you some of her tried and true pickling and jamming recipes and explain matching spices, fruits, vegetables, and brines. You’ll leave with a knowledge of how to make quick pickles, shelf stable pickles, and jam. In pickling lingo, learn how to “put up” your produce before winter and save some of the fantastic flavors that summer has to offer. Each participant will also leave with their own “pickle kit” so that you can put your new skills to use! NOTE: This class is held at our classroom annex, not our retail location. The annex is located at 67 Smith Place in Cambridge, and we highly recommend reviewing the directions available at www.formaggiokitchen.com. Please be aware of our cancellation policy. General Admission, $65.00 per person, register on line.
Expand your food horizons with farmers Christy Raymond Kantlehner and Chris Kantlehner of White Barn Farm, located in Wrentham, at this Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens lecture on Wednesday, February 27, beginning at 1 pm. Christy and Chris will demystify the produce appearing in farm stands, farmer’s markets, and in CSA boxes, and tell you how to incorporate this cornucopia of veggies into your meals. Hear how to keep and store the bounty from local farms, and learn tasty uses for radish greens and other things you might have once thrown away. When the produce season is in full tilt with great prices on veggies, go far beyond zucchini bread with tips and recipes for processing and preserving. FWCBG members $10, non members $15. Call 781-283-3094 to register.
We all love fresh food grown from the garden. But we live in New England and if we expect to eat as well in January as in August, we need to preserve the summer garden’s abundance for the lean days of winter. Learn about the techniques of putting food by, including water bath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, root cellaring and lacto-fermenting to create delicacies that will see us through the dark days and remind us of what awaits in the spring. An upcoming series of four classes at the Berkshire Botanical Garden will demystify all aspects of preserving food.
On Wednesday, July 13, the class is entitled You CAN Do It! Hot water bath and pressure cooker canning is not just for jams and jellies (although it’s really good for those too). Learn how to put up your own salsa, chutneys and condiments. We will explore the many ways a canner can be put to use creating wonderful and unique gifts as well as enhancing your own food pantry. This class will also cover pressure canning and will demystify this useful method for insuring food safety. On Wednesday, July 27, enjoy Dry it – You’ll Like It & Baby It’s Cold Inside. Dehydrating and freezing as methods for preserving foods are perhaps the easiest for beginners. Learn how to use a dehydrator to make soup, snacks and delicacies to give as gifts or enjoy at home. Home-dried food has less salt and sugar, is far less expensive than the commercial counterparts and fabulous taste. Freezing summers bounty is another fool proof method for putting food by. Once mastered, the basics of blanching, chilling, air tight wrapping and freezing will provide a taste of summer in the depths of winter. These tried and true, simple techniques will be just like having Guido’s right in your house. Wednesday, August 10 brings We’re in a Pickle Now. Lacto-fermentation is one of the only food preservation techniques that actually enhances the flavor and nutrition of a food. Well learn about the chemistry and techniques of fermenting food on a small scale. Make every meal better with some kimchi. Finally, on Wednesday, August 24, we’ll learn What Lies Beneath. Think you can’t eat garden fresh food in the middle of winter? Think again! With a root cellar, you can enjoy carrots, beets, turnips, onions, potatoes, leeks and fruits like apples and pears all winter long. A well-made root cellar acts like a second refrigerator but needs no electricity. Use it to store wine, cider, lard and all those tasty lacto-fermented vegetables. We will explore what it takes to create a root cellar, how to prepare vegetables for their winter home and how to use the produce you store there.
All classes are led by Kathy Harrison, who has been preserving food for over 30 years. She teaches classes on all manner of food preservation for many organizations and has presented trainings for NOFA and Mother Earth News. She is the author of several books. Her latest is Just In Case: How to Be Self Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens. Kathy and her husband, Bruce run Barefoot Farm, where they raise bees, organic fruits and vegetables.
Register on line (www.berkshirebotanical.org) for all four classes (BBG members $75, nonmembers $85), or register for any individual class ($22 for all.)
