Crazy Canning Gene...58º

Is it the Mormon background or the great depression of the 30's?..Why does our family have a compulsion to can or jar or freeze everything in site...I'll start with my Grandmother who raised 10 children in the Salt Lake Valley in the late 1900's and had almost every kind of fruit and vegetables available to her...Her parents came across the plains pushing a handcart...They were a hardy lot and suffered through the blazing sun and harsh winters...They learned fast that the more food you put away before winter set in the better your chance of living through the winter...My Mom and Dad started life on the harsh Wyoming plains, living in a log shack, 4 little kids and another one on the way...It was the middle of the great depression...Dad worked for food, they salted hams and bacons and Mom canned vegetables, fruits and meat...She continued this style of life all of her 96 years...On our table growing up we always had fresh fruit and vegetables but not much, most of it went in the jars to get us through the long winters.

Yesterday on facebook one of my nieces posted-"One month's worth of dinners ready for the freezer"Photo included...Her sister posted "Awesome. Crazy what we do with a day off! Relax and read? Naw.... We cook! I canned peaches, made jalapeño poppers and prepped dinners for the rest of the week!" The reply came back.."Way to go Sis. ...we must be nuts"  I jumped in with a comment-"Being nuts runs in the family, I made 25 jars of jam, 2 qts of currant juice (for jelly) and canned 8 pints of garbanzo beans."....Another sister chimed in with "This summer I've made 70 pints of salsa, 25 pickled jalapenos, beets and beet pesto in the freezer, and roasted peppers in freezer too...it's almost time for tamales...Someone else chimed in with, lets have an exchange...And so it goes, we can, we freeze, we store it away...Never know what the winter will bring...Hugs to All...OWAV:)