Summer work

I like to can pickles and chutney in August when I'm in the mood: early morning, coffee, sweats, slippers, NPR and a quiet house.

But we've been busy around here and finally getting a late start on home repair projects. So conditions weren't perfect this weekend while I cooked a double batch of "Washington" chutney, in-between the window replacement salesman and the washing machine delivery guys. (Yes, we gave the old lemon the heave-ho.)

It sure doesn't look like an entire mornings' work. John said, "is that all you made this year?"

As I peel and chop, sometimes I think of my grandmother and mom who bulk canned vegetables and fruit in a small, hot kitchen. When produce was ripe, they preserved whether they were in the mood or not to feed the family over the winter. It was the farm wife's job in those days, along with her other chores. Film cameras were for taking pictures of people on special occasions, and it would have been downright weird to take a picture of a jar of peaches no matter how pretty. Canning that plain food was just work, and no one would have been interested in how they felt about it. A housewife in 1953 wasn't distracted by computers, blogs, smart phones, email, texts, or daytime TV. If she had time to keep a diary, she might have noted "canned 3 dozen quarts of tomatoes today."

Anyway, when I was about Nova's age I remember seeing an astonishing number of peach quarts lined up in the cellar. My mother tapped each lid to see if it sealed, and I wondered how anyone could ever eat so many canned peaches. (We did.) Nothing was wasted on a farm unless it was truly spoiled, and scraps went to the pigs and chickens.

Well, canning is a luxury activity now in terms of the time and expense. But young foodies are taking it up as a cool retro hobby. And who needs corn and peaches when you can impress your friends with interesting condiments, jams and pickles? In the mood or not, I have to find time in August to make chutney from the same old recipe of peaches, plums, onions and peppers. Or we'll be missing Washington chutney on our turkey curry, come February.