Ida’s Notebook Ida Risser Farmers can always find something to do. Even if it rains or snows, they have machinery to repair and other jobs to complete. And there is the always-present paperwork which nowadays means computer work for many farmers or their wives. Therefore, it is not easy to get away for a vacation. Who will milk the cows, tend the chickens, and keep the oper ation going? Sometimes a “day” vacation is the answer. Recently, I had the oppor tunity to visit a local muse um. I was amazed at the size of “The Conestoga Area His torical Society” buildings. I expected an old schoolhouse filled with local artifacts. In stead, we saw a large exhibit of Conestoga Indian arti facts. We also saw a number of small houses that had been moved from their original lo INVENTORY REDUCTION L OW, LOW, PRICE amt 3 DAYS ONLY!! Bring Your Measurements! Sheet Vinyl As Low As $1.99 Per Sq. Yd. Over 100 Rolls Of Vinyl To Select From Score Hours For Sole Sept. 27 - 7 AM CoS PM Sept. 2*B-7 AM CO 8 PM Sept. 29 - 7 AM Co 32 Noon Country Floor Store (717) 768-7716 303 Queen Road, Gordonvillc, PA 1.3 miles south of Intercourse cations to the village of Con estoga. These buildings were mid-18th and 19th century buildings that depicted rural life in Lancaster County. Items displayed ranged in size from a Conestoga wagon to tiny arrowheads that were found in the local area. Did you know that there are 18 museums in Lancaster County? They cover more than 300 years of our history. In going over the long list, I’ve discovered that there are still four sites that I have not visited. Some have been visit ed many times while a few hold little interest for me. Maybe someday I’ll get to see more museums if I ever catch up with work here at home. Believe it or not, we still have not processed all of our own peaches and apples even though we’ve done our best to share them with oth ers. SALE '•I Carry On! ish Well Preserved The Well Preserved news col umn is prepared by Lancaster County Cooperative Extension. It includes food preservation in formation and questions received in the office. Some reasons for reducing sugar in canning are a flavor preference for less sweetness, re duced calories, and special die tary restrictions. While sugar helps fruits keep their bright color and firm texture, it is not necessary to prevent fruit from spoiling. Proper food handling and adequate processing in a boiling water bath canner will allow you to successfully preserve fruits with little or no added sugar. What can be used in place of sugar to can fruits? Frozen or bottled unsweetened juices can be used in place of sugar syrup. Reconstituted frozen apple juice concentrate works well with peaches, pears, apri cots, plums, and red or white sweet cherries. It can be diluted with extra water to cut the apple flavor and reduce calories fur ther. For example, use five cans of water to reconstitute the juice instead of the usual three. Frozen pineapple juice works especially well with pears or peaches. Fro zen pineapple juice gives a fresh er flavor than the canned juice. Reduced Sugar Food Preservation FARM-TOUGH SHOES The Mud Dog jtfhh Georgia Boot *45.50 . Tough rubber bottom is guaranteed waterproof. for comfort sizes M 7-13 Add $6 Shipping 1 pr., $1.50 ea. additional pr. I 1 J Name j ■ Address j I Shoe |l I State Zip Size || i 1 Progressive Shoe Store 19 N. Belmont Rd., Paradise, PA 17562 (717) 768-7866 Call or write for our free catalog fll, SUSQUEHANNA O?- PRINTING Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 15, 2001-B5 Diluted sweetened white grape juice works well with pears, peaches, or apricots while red grape juice complements plums and red cherries. Diabetics need to consider the fruit juice used in canning this way as a fruit serv ing. Is honey suitable for can ning? Honey is a liquid concentrated sweetener and should be avoided by diabetics and others needing to reduce calories. It has more calories per tablespoon and does taste sweeter than an equal amount of sugar. A mild flavored variety of honey can be used in canning syrups. Can artificial sweeteners be used in canning? Do not add artificial sweeten ers to canning syrups. The heat of processing may cause sweeten ers to lose sweetening power or cause an unpleasant after taste or flavor change. Aspartame is de stroyed by long cooking. Artifi cial sweeteners should be added to canned or frozen fruit just be fore serving. What is the sweetener fruc tose? Fructose is a sweet tasting sugar found in fruit, juices, and honey. It tastes twice as sweet as sugar so that less can be used, but it still must be considered a sugar by diabetics. Is it safe to can fruits such as apples and pears in water? Use only the hot pack method when canning fruit without sugar. That is, cook the fruit in water until hot throughout before packing the hot fruit into hot jars. Add boiling water to cover and seal. Process in the boiling water bath according to USDA timetables. What is a light sugar syrup? A light sugar syrup uses a lower proportion of sugar to water than a medium or heavy syrup? Penn State’s Let’s Pre serve publication gives these sugar concentrations for canning syrups: Very light syrup uses VA cups sugar to WA cups water; light syrup uses 2'A cups sugar to 9 cups water; and medium syrup uses VA cups sugar to B'A cups water. You can experiment with lighter syrups to determine the reduced level of sweetness you fmd acceptable. Can artificial sweeteners be used in jams and jellies? A few specially designed reci pes are available for jams and jel lies using artificial sweeteners. Do not use artificial sweeteners or reduce the amount of sugar in a traditional jelly reci pe because the product will not gel properly. There are commercial pectin products avail able specially designed for lower amounts of sugar. Some fruit spreads have no added sugar but are concen trated fruit mixtures that taste sweet be cause of the concentra tion of the natural sug ars. Natural sugars have the same caloric content of sucrose or table sugar. Are artificial sweeteners safe? Food additives in cluding artificial sweeteners must be ap proved for safety by the Food and Drug Administration or be grandfathered in on the GRAS list (Gener ally Recognized as Safe) as is saccharin. Most people can use saccharin, aspartame, and acesulfame-K safely in moderation. A very small group of people with the rare hereditary disease phe nylketonuria need to avoid aspartame. Ste via, a product derived from a South Ameri can shrub, cannot be sold as a sweetener be cause its safety has been questioned by published studies. FDA considers stevia an unapproved food additive. More information about canning with less sugar and some recipes are available by calling you local exten sion office and asking for the publication, Let’s Preserve: Re duced Sugar Food Preservation. If you have food preservation questions, a home economist is available to answer questions on Wednes day, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., call (717) 394-6851 or write Penn State Coopera tive Extension, Lancas ter County, 1383 Arca dia Road, Room. 1, Lancaster, PA, 17601.
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