Family Living
Focus
by
Nancy Wlker
Lancaster Co.
Extension Agent
Jams, Jelly, Family Traditions
I spent last weekend visiting
with my family. My parents and
my sister. Sue and her family,
live in the northeastern part of
Pennsylvania in my hometown,
Montrose. As usual there were
more things to do and talk about
than time allows, but we get in as
much as possible before I had to
leave for the three-hour trip
home to Lancaster. We shopped,
hiked, talked, and ate.
Dad commented that nearly all
the food for dinner came out of
their freezer or was home canned
by Mom. The only thing not
home preserved was fresh aspar
agus from the garden. As long as
I can remember, we have had a
The STREAM MAP OF OHIO
resembles another map-known to
Pennsylvania anglers as the “Lost
Stream Map.”
The “Stream Map of
Pennsylvania” was completed in
1965 after a 30 year effort by
Howard Higbee, a former Penn State
Professor
Professor Higbee succeeded in
creating a map of the highest detail
possible, .a map that shows every
stream and lake He painstakingly
plotted by hand, the location of
45,000 miles of streams onto a
3 by 5 foot map
The map sold extremely well -
until it was lost several years later.
Incredibly, the printer entrusted with
the original drawing and printing
plates declared bankruptcy, then
carelessly hauled Higbee's 30 years
of work to the landfill.
The few remaining dog-eared
copies became a prized fisherman's
possession. Professor Higbee was
offered $4OO for one of his last
maps. And state agencies were
forced to keep their copies under
lock and key.
The experts had always told
Professor Higbee that reprints were
impossible, because the maps were
printed in non-photographic blue.
Then, in 1991, at the age of 91,
Howard Higbee’s dream came true.
Computers made it possible to
reprint the map. Holding an updated
map, Howard said, 1 never thought
I’d live to see this day.”
Then, by combining Professor
Higbee’s knowledge with computer
technology - the STREAM MAP OF
OHIO was created.
garden and my parents either
canned or froze any garden ex
cess for the winter. Of course, our
favorites included the jams and
jellies we made. Over the week
end we were comparing notes
about which ones were the best
and how jelly making has
changed.
We always had strawberry and
raspberry jam made from berries
in the garden and blackberries
from the woods. We also made
currant-raspberry jelly since we
had a red currant bush (a piece
off Grandma Hallstead’s currant
bush from the farm). This tangy
jelly is still one of my favorites.
And, the currants are easy to
pick.
Stream Maps
of Pennsylvania, New York
New England, New Jersey, Ohio,
& Maryland/Delaware
The First and Only Highly Detailed Hap of Its Kind
The 3-foot-by-5-foot color map shows virtually all of the 45,000 miles of Pennsylvania streams plus lakes The
3 I/2-foot-by-4 I/2-foot color map shows virtually all of the 65,000 miles of New York streams plus- lakes The
3-foot-by-4-foot color map shows virtually all of the 36,000 miles of New England streams plus lakes The 2
l/2-foot-by-3-foot color map shows virtually all of the 8,300 miles of New Jersey streams plus lakes The 3-
foot-by-3-foot color map shows virtually all of the 29,000 miles of Ohio streams plus lakes The 2-foot-by-3
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RAVE REVIEWS
“It is amazingly detailed and
names some creeks in the
Mohawk Valley that can’t
even be found on
topographic maps."
—John Pitarres,
OBSERVER-DISPATCH,
Utica
“If you’re looking for the most
definitive maps ever created
depicting every single creek,
river, stream, pond and
lake...then ‘Professor
Higbee's Stream Maps' are
without question the finest.”
—Howard Brant,
THE NEWARK STAR-LEDGER
“It is in showing where to find
out-of-the-way trout streams
that makes the map such a
treasure to the fisherman.”
—Joe Gordon,
TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT,
Johnstown
The blackberry patches were
full of pickers. Protected with our
jeans and long-sleeved shirts, we
walked to back on the hill to find
the juiciest blackberries. Dad
made each of us buckets by at
taching a wire handle to a coffee
can. He would tie his bucket to
his belt so he could pick with
both hands. In no time his bucket
was full. Mom, on the other
hand, picked slower, but she
“looked over” each berry before
she put it in the bucket so there
are no stray leaves, bugs, or dam
aged berries in the lot. My bucket
filled slower, because I did a lot
of sampling.
Even as kids we helped make
the jams and jellies. Mom re
cycled small glass jars from mus
tard, olives, maraschino cherries,
and cheese spreads to use for jelly
and jam. I don’t think pint
mason jars were available in
those days, at least I never recall
seeing any. We filled all the jars
and covered the top with paraffin
wax. Mom had a small iron skil
let she used to melt the paraffin. I
liked to open the jars of jam by
pushing on one side of the wax
seal and watch it pop off. We
washed the wax disk and put it
back in the little skillet to use
next year. Sometimes we would
Get Ready for Fishing Season!
FR
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find some mold under the wax
seal, and then the jam was
thrown away.
Jam-making techniques have
come a long way since my days
living at home. The recycled
mustard and olive jars have been
replaced by 4 ounces and half
pint mason jars. Instead of the
paraffin seal, we use two-piece
canning lids and process ail jams
and jellies in a boiling water bath.
Today we also know that mold
growth may not be as harmless as
it was believed in the past. USDA
and Cooperative Extension en
dorse processing all jams and jel
lies and soft spreads in a boiling
water bath to keep the potential
for mold spoilage as small as pos
sible. Some molds growing on
fruit products made at home
have been shown to produce
“mycotoxins” or mold poisons.
The danger to humans from con
suming mycotoxins, from moldy
jars of jams is not clear, although
one mycotoxin, patulin, has been
shown to be carcinogenic in ani
mals.
Paraffin or wax sealing of jars
is no longer considered an ac
ceptable choice for any sweet
spread. Any pinholes, shrinkage
or cracks in the wax paraffin
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 10, 2003-B5
allow airborne molds to contami
nate and grow on the product. In
addition, leaks or holes in the
paraffin can allow product to
seep out during storage and once
on the surface, it will provide nu
trients for molds to grow on the
surface and enter into the jam or
jelly in the jar.
In order to get the highest
quality, least health and safety
risks and the lowest chance of
losing product, use standard can
ning jars, with self-sealing flat
metal lids and screw bands, fill
hot jars with hot product and
process in a boiling water bath at
least S minutes.
Today Mom makes many
more frozen jams. We especially
like the frozen cherry made from
sour cherries we picked last sum
mer. These jams are sweeter than
the cooked jams but have more of
the fresh fruit flavors.
Although the techniques of
food preservation have changed
since I was growing up in Mon
trose, the family traditions of
making jams and jellies have re
mained the same. My children
and I have been making jam and
jellies for our family and friends
since they were small. It is some
thing we do together and that
makes it special.