Finally, common sense to stop massive food waste!

Since May, Belgian supermarkets must donate unsold food still fit for consumption to charity.

“The move followed proposals by the European Union to scrap compulsory “best before” labels on coffee, rice, dry pasta, hard cheeses, jams and pickles to help reduce the estimated 100 million tons of food wasted across Europe each year.”

It's about time someone take concrete action to address food waste while so many folks are starving in the world's richest and poorest countries alike.

Check out this article:

French MPs propose forcing supermarkets to hand over all unsold food to charity

CANNING ORANGES (2 useful videos)

Disclaimer: Before attempting to can foods, you should already have a good understanding of canning  and have the required equipment. Dangerous bacteria can develop in incorrectly processed canned foods. You should have sufficient knowledge to judge for yourself whether this information is reliable. Read full disclaimer below.

We live in Orange Country. Like many homes in Southern California, ours was built in an orange grove.

Not only is our climate and soil perfect to grow many types of citrus, but our property has old (almost historic) and mature orange trees left over from the old days when this was prime orange growing land.

Most varieties of orange trees (and citrus) in our area give a winter harvest, somewhere between December and April. We harvest the fruit gradually, because we only pick the fruit when it's fully ripe, still on the tree, but when it comes off by just lifting it slightly.

But if you have orange trees, you know that picking only ripe fruit does not mean that you will have only a few oranges at a time. A few oranges for me is anywhere from 20 to 80 lbs (at a time), depending on how often I check the tree! And that's way more than we could possibly manage to eat.

We give oranges to neighbors, friends, family, delivery people, etc., but we still end up with more than we could possibly eat fresh. There is no way I will let hundreds of pounds of delicious oranges go to waste, even though we do not really waste anything: what grows here stays here, even if it's to become compost. But rather than using the oranges for compost, canning or freezing can go a long way in ensuring that you have fruit from the garden year-round.

Our house came with an old ACME juicerator, so it's easy for me to make lots of orange juice, and freeze it, but with the amount we need to preserve, canning is more economical because you use energy to can the fruit, not to store it. Not to mention the fact that with so much to freeze, one huge freezer would not be enough. I hate to think what my electric bill would look like if I had multiple freezers...

Canned oranges it is, then!

I find it hard to find good, reliable canning information. Proven techniques to can various types of food, like Grand'Ma used to make. But while searching, I came across a couple videos and people who seem to know what they are talking about and share their experience on video to help others.

Check the videos below disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee that the methods demonstrated in the videos are correct of safe. It is imperative that you educate yourself about canning techniques before attempting to can foods, so you can do it as safely as possible AND so the food you preserve is safe to eat and will not make you ill (eating improperly canned foods can lead to botulism, which can be fatal.)

The canning process also involves the use of very hot liquids as well as, in some instances, the use of a pressure canner. Pressure canners allow the jars to be processed at extremely high temperatures (much HOTTER than boiling water.) AND as they are removed from the canner, the canned food jars are not only SUPER HOT, but also under high pressure as long as they remain hot. 

Before attempting to can foods, you should already have a good understanding of canning  and have all of the required equipment. Dangerous bacteria can develop in incorrectly processed canned foods. You should have sufficient knowledge to judge for yourself whether this information is reliable.

I find the above video more useful overall, because it covers the actual canning of the fruit, but the following one is from Granny Miller, whose videos contain a wealth of hard-to-find details for the novice canning enthusiast. Be sure to check her other videos. I find them both useful and inspiring.

Happy Canning!!

Sweet & YUMMY !!!

 From Homegrown Sugarcane 

 to make Homemade Syrup 

It worked…!  Wow…! 

Did it! Used homegrown sugarcane to make something useful. 
And it was easy as 1 - 2 - 3.

Taste is quite similar to molasses, but sweeter, clear, and with a deep orangeish-red color. I LOVE molasses, so I'm happy with this new truly natural, organic and vegan syrup.

The only drawback is the amount you get after boiling it down. Similar to when boiling down maple syrup, but you get a bit more, perhaps. I started with about 3-4 cups of juice after pressure-cooking. I finished with about ¼ cup of syrup.

ALWAYS USE UTMOST CARE: Hot sugar liquids are very dangerous and should never be handled except by responsible adults fully capable of performing such task safely at all times. See "CAUTION" below.

What I did:

Placed washed, peeled and split cane pieces, covered with filtered water, in a pressure cooker pot.

Cooked in an electric pressure cooker, for speed and simplicity. I cooked on the steam program for about 1hr.

Transferred the juice to a pot and boiled it down on the stove. In hindsight the pressure cooker's "sauté" program might have simplified the task a bit.

Removed from the heat at the thread stage (candy cooking temperature). Next time I'll stop a bit earlier so it's not quite as thick once refrigerated.

CAUTION (MUST READ): Before you decide to do this, make absolutely certain that this is a task you are able to handle safely. Ensure children and pets are not nearby, unsupervised or in your way, and that you are always able to and paying full and continuous attention to the work at hand. Your work area should be clean and free of obstructions. Do not leave this process unattended. Boiling sugars are EXTREMELY HOT and VISCOUS. They can cause SEVERE BURNS and the liquid's viscosity may worsen injuries. UTMOST CAUTION should be exercised when handling this substance in order to prevent injuries to yourself, others or pets. 

Note: On the photo, the cane segments are whole, but I later decided to split each segment in ½, then each split segment into 3 or 4 wedges.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to David, blog author of Florida Survival Gardening for the great idea. I modified the process slightly, peeling the cane and using a pressure cooker, but I otherwise followed his instructions.