FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEATTLE, WA. (August 26, 2009) — From a bookshop in Edmonds to a church in Phinney Ridge, Seattle is about to show its can-do attitude.This weekend, home canners, preservers and picklers are gathering ’round the canning kettle as part of a unified effort to celebrate the art of “putting up” food. Leading these efforts is Canning Across America (CAA), a nationwide collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to the revival of food preservation, doing it safely and celebrating the joys of community building through food.
Founded in Seattle, CAA is rich with regional food-writing talent, including Rebekah Denn, Leslie Kelly, Tara Austen Weaver, Shauna James Ahern and Nicole Aloni.
This weekend, Aug. 29-30, is CAA’s kickoff, with how-to demos, classes and home canning parties taking place throughout the Seattle metro area. Several farmers’ markets are playing host to free and open-to-the-public canning demos, including Columbia City (with Amy Pennington of Go Go Green Garden; featured in “Reader’s Big Ideas” in the July issue of Sunset Magazine), Queen Anne (where Canvolutionaries will be on hand to meet and greet) and University District (with chef Renee Ericksonof Boat Street Cafe). Canners of all skill levels have their choice of venues for hands-on instruction, including community centers, churches and commercial kitchens….
The Seattle food community is contributing to the CAA Web site as well, with recipes and canning inspiration. Contributors include: pastry chef Dana Cree/ Poppy; chef Greg Atkinson; Dalis Shea/Seattle’s Fresh Bistro; Diane LaVonne/Diane’s Market Kitchen; Lisa Dupar/Pomegranate Bistro; chef Hope Sandler; cookbook writers Lorene Edwards-Forkner, Lucy Norris and former Seattle-ite Pat Tanumihardja (author of the forthcoming “Asian Grandmother’s Kitchen.”)
The can-do attitude doesn’t end in Seattle, nor does it stop after Aug. 30. Events, from the small home canning party to the chef-led workshop, are on the calendar well into October, and we’re expecting more in the coming days. Nationally, CAA’s contributors and supporters include chef John Besh, Noah Sheetz of the NY Governor’s Mansion and food writers Janet Fletcher, Tessa Kiros, Karen Solomon, Sarah Gilbert, Sherri Brooks Vinton and Eugenia Bone.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio program “The Splendid Table” recently said to CAA founder/food writer Kim O’Donnel that it sounds like “you’ve started a revolution.”
“No, Lynne,” O’Donnel replied. “It’s more like a Canvolution.”
from Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, Sasquatch Books
Well, there you have it – I’m a bonafide Canvolutionary! Go to the CAA website to read my article on Pressure Canning 101. Check out the calendar of canning events scheduled to take place over the next several months. From Boston to Pocantico Hills, NY; Seattle to St. Paul, MN, kitchens across America are heating up.
I’m off to the Columbia City Farmer’s Market -one of my very favorite markets, after the West Seattle market of course! – to see Amy Pennington of Go Go Green Gardens do a canning demonstration this afternoon at 4pm. This will also give me the chance to pick up some garden grown tomato “seconds”. Seconds may not be the prettiest girl at the dance – generally they have some sort of flaw or bruise – but they are just perfect for saucing. I want to make lots more of my Fresh Simple Tomato Sauce to fill our freezer in the basement. I might just have to do some noshing and nibbling as well, the tamales are dee-licious!
