Fancy Pantry!

It’s been a long time since I canned – at least 3 summers went by without me opening my canner. In fact it came very close to being relegated to my pot garden.  I have a collection of old cooking pots that come in handy for all kinds of things.

Tomatoes Inside!

The tomatoes have been brought in for the winter.  I’m wondering if they will come back next year with a new set of blossoms.  In the meantime I’ve got a lot of baby tomatoes that need to get read and I’d like to have them ripen on the plant if I can.

Anyways, one of my canners still remains as a canner and this summer it got used twice.  Several years ago I read a book called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  One of the summer pages referred to a book called Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty.   It’s a wonderful book with all kinds of recipes (not just canning and preserving) but I enjoy the preserving session the best.

There’s a reason why I’m writing about this book.  While visiting Get Rich Slowly, I read about a Canadian Finance blog, http://canadianfinanceblog.com/ which I promptly checked out!  While checking their reading list I came across a book by the folks at Wisebread, http://www.wisebread.com/  (Am I ever doing a lot of name-dropping here!)

The book is called 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget and it reminded me of why I loved Fancy Pantry so much that I had to go out and buy it this year from a vendor on Amazon.ca.   By just tweeking things a little bit, I am able to enjoy condiments that very few are able to enjoy – unless you invite me to dinner of course.

So far I’ve pickled some grapes (Tarragon Pickled Grapes)  and made some Peach Jam with Brown Sugar and Rum (I sprung for the Appleton’s with this one).  I think the grapes will make an appearance at Thanksgiving, but the jam is already being enjoyed!

It doesn’t take a lot to live large when your budget is small.  Trying out a new recipe or adding a different ingredient to an old stand-by can make life more interesting.  Even a single stem of daisies does wonders!

I know that the Calgary Public Library has one copy of Fancy Pantry and none of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, but there are other books that can help you enjoy life when you’re on a diet.

Have a lovely day and enjoy the changing colours of the leaves!

Marcia