Completed [Empyreal Manor] Preserving The Harvest

[Kelski]

Timestamp: 68th of Fall, 518 A.V.

One of the things Kelski found in Albastin’s office was a very unique cast iron pot that seemed to have a lid that sealed incredibly tight. It had a sort of pressure release device on the top that seemed to work based on how much heat and boiling water built up inside. It was a fascinating thing, made even more fascinating by the fact that Albastin had a notebook stored inside of the device that had all sorts of notes on food preservation.

It was definitely a skill Kelski would need living out on the Demense with the guild. There was food being grown, for certain, and some of it was already harvested. But if they couldn’t ‘save’ it, then there was no point in growing it because they were truthfully harvesting more than they could safely eat.

His notes were written in distinct neat printing rather than looping cursive script that made it easy for Kelski to read. Albastin talked about sun and wind drying foods. There were sections in his notes on this, enough material that she could reproduce drying salmon or laying out fruits, vegetables and herbs in the area with good airflow to dry as well. He also talked about freezing food. In cold climates, people often left food out on the ice to be frozen thus preserving it.

Mages, he noted, could keep large metal boxes that were insulated with sawdust and layers of wood with drains in the bottom… and if they had hinged lids that sealed tight, mages could keep creating ice in the box in big blocks that would keep food preserved for several days without worrying about it decaying enough to make people sick. Kelski thought about it. Cold water in the hot summers sounded amazing, and she studied his diagrams. The Gem could make her an icebox, and she could certainly create ice for it. She noted it down on her to-do list and decided the metalsmithing was something she could probably handle, even though it was far larger than her Jewelcrafting style metalsmithing knowledge. She’d have to get some metal from the Svefra, but that was more than do-able.

The part she was most interested in was the canning though.

He had extensive notes on canning, a thing Kelski was familiar with because she’d often bought food in the winter in stalls in Sunberth in jars. And when the jars were opened, the lids made a pop indicating that they had been sealed somehow away from the air and anything that might grow in the food to cause it to rot. Kelski had always saved the jars, rings, and lids. Some of them even had glass lids with clever metal clamps. And before she’d left Sunberth, she’d stocked up on glassware for just this purpose. So, she truthfully had, between her kitchen items, and the special cast iron pot that Albastin had – a way to preserve some of their harvests. They had a garden that had things harvested - tomatoes, beans, peas, and lots and lots of corn.

Words: 510

[Kelski]

Kelski studied Albastin’s notes intently. He had canning broken into two forms. There was a boiling water method that was safe for fruits, jams, jellies, pickles, and even tomatoes. It seemed simple enough. One only needed a big pot filled with enough boiling water to cover food-filled jars. They are boiled thoroughly for a specific amount of time depending on the food sealed in the jars.

Then, once they are boiled and cooled, Albastin claimed they would keep for a season or more, even years if necessary. He did caution that after a full year the food might lose its coloring, such as peaches growing darker, but they would still be safe to eat.

The second type of canning involved the cast iron sealed cauldron. Evidently, according to Albastin, the device was called a pressure cooker and was used in preserving jars of all other kinds of vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood. In that method, jars of food were placed in two to three inches of water in the cauldron, the lid sealed, and then the cooker was heated up until the water turned to steam and created pressure within the vessel.

The pressure heated the food and cooked it in a way that killed anything that would spoil the food. She knew the flesh of animals and even vegetables could be incredibly dirty, housing mold, mildew, and even disease. But this method – so long as the flesh or vegetables were canned fresh – would make any of them safe for long periods of time.

He was also quick to note that all foods weren’t created equally. Kelski found charm in his notes, for they displayed his humor and deep intellect. The man theorized that various foods had different acid levels to them. And that the more acid a food had in it, the harder it was to ‘preserve’. He also had theories that food had djed and this djed made it even harder to preserve as well. Kelski noted that what he was theorizing was always marked as a theory and not a true fact.

Best of all? He had step by step processes for both his water bath canning and to use the cast iron canner. And then he had notes on all the types of produce and meat he’d canned and how he’d done it. Kelski was thrilled. Even though there were a lot of them, canning remaining elk meat when its hang time was done was a wonderful thing. They never could eat a whole animal. The same was said of some of the larger seals, though deer and bear they’d learned they could eat within a day or two. Having a way to preserve the meat though would be amazing. She’d feel less guilty all around if all of it didn’t get eaten in time.

Kelski also wanted to get a few cattle to run in deer valley, though she’d probably have to get calves from Zeltiva because she couldn’t see casinor’s hauling full-grown beef cows. They had chickens and turkeys already, and Kelski was happy to note that all those types of meats could be preserved too if necessary.

Words: 526

[Kelski]

She unpacked the cast iron cooker and noted that it had strange wire racking inside. Upon skimming Albastin’s notes further, she realized that the racking kept the jars from touching each other, allowing the water to flow around and underneath the jars for a more even processing. Within the racking, the jars used would be snug and would indeed not bump into each other in the boiling rolling water which would keep them from accidentally cracking or breaking which would ruin the contents. The K’etir mage also noted that it didn’t matter what the water was boiled on… hearth, firepit, pot-bellied stove… any and all would work well.

The Sea Eagle moved on to read about the pressure cooker, which was made of cast iron and had a steam tight lid. It was a fascinatingly heavy item that had a vent at the top. From Albastin’s notes, she learned this vent was a pet-cock… that allowed steam to vent at the cook’s determination. The secret was a rubbery gasket that fitted around the lid and locked the lid down tight. Once she read fully about how he used it, she moved on to the other items she’d need.

There were jars of various types, with a brief discussion on using thick glass over thin cheap glass jars. The heated thin glass shattered frequently. Kelski didn’t want that to happen to her as she was canning. She knew, however, after reading from his notes how she could tell which was best for use and which to avoid boiling or pressure cooking to seal.

Albastin also recommended a jar lifter, a funnel for putting fruit into a jars, a lid lifter, clean cloths, knives, spoons, something to keep time with like an hourglass, and definitely a cutting board. Kelski started to fetch those things and then decided since the fruit was all up in the kitchen, she’d be better off taking the other mage’s notes upstairs and using the kitchen. With that in mind, Kelski packed up all her goods, lugged the pot upstairs, and took over the kitchen for actual experimentation.

Words: 352

Kelski lugged the gear and Albastin’s notes upstairs – the ladder proving difficult – and settled the pot by the hearth. She truthfully couldn’t wait for a proper kitchen. The tower was fairly large, but it had no dedicated space like The Gem’s old form had. It would be a lot better for them all when the actual manor house took shape and an area dedicated for cooking and food storage happened. Kelski looked at the assembled items and just shook her head. She wasn’t the best cook out there. There were others far more talented. Her problem was that she normally had to hunt and eat her food raw. This last year was the first she’d had the leisure to have time to shop and cook… and then there’d been only Ember around to do most of the cooking. Kelski could boil water, thus make hard-boiled eggs, and throw together most soups and stews but that was her limit.

Ember was out in the garden with the two crones who normally haunted the kitchen. Mosa cooked a little, and Hattie supervised a lot. So, it was indeed a good time with all three absent for the Kelvic to flex her skills a bit and try her hand at canning what she made. Alone. She knew the main ingredient today would be fall apples. The group had found a number of apple trees scattered around the Demesne, and with the help of a bit of land clearing and taking the pony cart out, bushels of apples had been gathered. The bushel baskets sat as far from the hearth as possible, waiting to be processed. And that was going to be her main task today.

Count: 282

[Kelski]

Peeling apples, it turned out, was an exercise in meditation. Kelski was good with a dagger and she used a razor-sharp kitchen knife about half the size of a dagger to begin the peeling process. At first it was something of a game, trying to get all the peel of the apple off in one strip without starting and stopping. When she was done with the peel, she used a long-tubed metal instrument with sharp teeth on one end of the tube and a handle on the other end to core the apple. The cores and peels she set aside to see if the horses wanted, otherwise, they could go into the garden compost.

Her mind drifted as she peeled, reflecting on what they were building here and how much more work it was than she thought it would be. It wasn’t a bad thing that it was work, but it was no life of leisure either. Every waking moment was dedicated to bringing in coin or to their survival here outside the city. Defense. Stores. Offensive training. Magic. It was rather a dream life – a pregnant to full life – one that brought her utter contentment at the end of the day. The work didn’t overburden her, but it made her concerned. If everyone didn’t pull their weight, it wouldn’t work.

That was certainly true.

And so far, everyone was. It was … healing her. Kelski realized it. She saw it clearly as she peeled the flesh off the apples and exposed their hearts and souls. The Humans in Sunberth had been systematically stripping her of what had made her in essence herself. She’d been standing on a precipice with only a single shove away from falling off it. That fall would have resulted in a deep dark creature of hate that would rest very little and hunt tirelessly. Truth be told, she was a little in love with the site of blood and drawing it on someone who threatened her safety or security. There was a dark creature in her that had been nurtured and was on the rise directly due to Sunberth’s influence. Leaving had been the best thing she’d ever done. It had calmed the beast within. It had allowed her to see clearly and assign new goals to her life. The move had opened her heart and a bondmate had happened. Kelski bowed her head over the apple she was peeling and quietly thanked Akajia.

Blinking, she refocused on the task at hand. Kelski then took the peeled and cored apple and sliced it up to about half inch slices. She dumped the slices into a big kettle she had hanging over the hearth and added a bit of water to it. Another apple. Another pile of peels. Time passed. In a basket above the hearth, a molten silver Rakanivas slumbered, his tiny wings tucked against his body. Gleam spent most of his time sleeping, something Mosa claimed babies of all types did. When he woke, he was ravenous and she’d have to feed him. Strips of raw meat where waiting in the ice box. She’d warm the air around them with Reimancy and feed the winged creature when he demanded it. Until then, she was certain she’d have enough time to fill the huge kettle with peeled apple slices.

Count: 554

[Kelski]

So, she continued peeling, coring, and slicing.

Akajia, Xhyvas, Semele, Nysel… they’d all marked her. And now carrying The Alizarin’s Regalia, it was weight on her shoulders. But it was different weight. She had time now, more time than she’d planned for or could even hope to have. Kelski felt gratitude, but she also knew she’d see the people here grow old, age, and die. She had time for this… this simple homey feel of peeling, coring, and slicing apples. Kelski worked as her mind drifted and soon enough the pot was heaping to overflow with the apples. In fact, the ones she’d added early on were starting to melt into a sort of mush that smelled heavenly.

Walking back to another part of the tower, one that they used for studying and research, Kelski plucked a book off a small bookshelf and took it back to the kitchen area with her. She found the page with the applesauce recipe and began reading. Apples… check. She had those in the pot, peeled and cored. Next she needed to add water. Check. She’d done that. She added a splash of white wine in as well to add flavor, then began pulling out her spices. Once the spices were laid out, she added two cups of sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of cloves, ground nutmeg and stirred. Then, squeezing and juicing two lemons she added the juice. Stirring it thoroughly, she finally moved the pot over the higher heat and set about getting ready to can once the applesauce was cooked in a half bell or so.

She laid out the canning items, reviewed Albastin’s notes, and once the apples were done, she took the huge pot off the hearth, set it on a cutting block, and took a potato masher. She mashed up the cooked apples thoroughly, creating the applesauce. She mashed away, over and over, until the texture was velvety smooth and the scent of spiced apples filled her nose. Breathing heavily, she pulled out a wide-mouth funnel and started to fill jars. Thinking she’d fill a few, Kelski had no idea how in the world the whole pot took over 24 jars to fill. Kelski had carefully checked the notes on canning, and in it had been a description about headspace, which was evidently the space between the top of the food in the jar and where the jar lid would screw down. It was necessary to leave a head space between the lid and the top of food or liquid, especially applesauce. This space is needed for the bubbling of liquids and fruit expansion. If the jars are filled too full the contents may overflow during processing or even explode. The amount of head space is usually between 1/8 and 1/2 inch. So Kelski paid attention and made an effort to leave a half inch before the top on every fill she did.

Once the jars were packed, she tapped them gently to release any trapped air. According to the notes, there were too methods of packing jars. One was a cold pack where you simply filled the jars with raw fruit or vegetables and covered them with boiling hot sugar syrup. Hot packing was what she was doing, thoroughly cooking the fruit first, then packing it still hot in the jars. She then tapped down the lids, placed rings on the jars, and tightened them down snuggly. She had to be careful the band was centered on the top of the jar so there was no air able to escape and the rings would slide on and tighten down well.

Count: 603

[Kelski]

Next, she had to get the water bath going. She placed the still hot jars on the jar rack then having already placed a second pot on the fire to heat water which was already boiling… she lowered the filled rack into the canner pot. She made sure the boiling water covered the jars by an inch or two, then put on a second pot of water to boil. As the other pot boiled, the water would turn to steam and escape the pot. The second pot of boiling water would then allow her to add already boiling water into the pot as she needed it while the jars sealed. She covered the canning pot with a lid, then she waited for a rolling boil. Once a rolling boil started, she counted off twenty chimes, adding more water when the level got low from the already secondary pot boiling extra water. Once she added water to the canning pot, she’d add more to the boiling pot so she wouldn’t run out.

Once the jars had boiled for twenty minutes, she pulled them out by the jar rack and set it aside, unloading the jars and reloading a new batch. Then she put those in the pot, and waited for the water to roll a boil again. Kelski carried on batch after batch until she had all the cans processed, then she proceeded to clean up.

Letting the jars sit for a whole day afterward, taking up the table and getting ready to go into their makeshift pantry, Kelski needed to test the seal. She checked this by pressing down on the center of the lids of each jar, making sure it was con-caved and wouldn’t spring back. She also tested it with a spoon, which was Albastin’s favorite method. Sealed jars would make a high-pitched sound. Improperly sealed jars made a dull thunk that was distinctive. Luckily, all of Kelski’s jars had turned out and she seemed to have a nice bunch of applesauce to store away for the year.

Then she carefully took black ink and labeled the tops of the jars with the date and what was in them… to her it seemed obvious.

Setting that project aside, Kelski grabbed another bucket of apples and began to peel that bushel. Up next? Pie filling. She had larger jars just perfect for a big group pies, and she was planning on staying where they would need plenty of food to share. That was especially true of the winter was hard. Kelski was uncertain but hopeful. The Pie Cozy they had discovered in Albastin’s office provided a pie a day, but the trouble was they rarely recognize what type of pie it was, and repeats were few and far between. Kelski loved the cream ones, but everyone else seemed to think the plain apple pie ones were great.

Plus, Gilthas had told her about apple turnovers and fried dough full of apples. He said if she knew how to make apple pie filing, the rest of the pastries made with it were easy and she could surprise the group just making them for breakfast if she ever had a notion too. Kelski was fine with that and flipped her baking book until she found a section on pies and their fillings. Apple pie filling was indeed listed and she got to work.


Count: 562

[Kelski]

Work meant more apples peeled. Kelski knew it needed to be done, but having already peeled one bushel, she was getting tired of it. She had to constantly remind herself how nice apple pie or fritters or even turnovers would be if they were buried deep in snow with nothing else to do and no food besides what was in their stores.

So, she peeled not just one more bushel, but two. And by the time she was halfway through the second one, Mosa and Hattie had wandered in and joined in, getting the remaining two peeled. Kelski judged this would take a lot of their stores of jars, maybe even half, and she was determined that the next trip anyone made to Zeltiva or the next Svefra pod that came by she’d request jars from them in trade to see if they could be enticed to find someplace in Zeltiva that had a glass works which made them.

Kelski then cleaned out the dirty applesauce kettle, dumped the next load of apple slices in the freshly cleaned vessel, and got to work. Or so she thought. Mosa stopped her. “No no, Child. You don’t just throw them in the pot and start cooking! Don’t you know anything?” She grumbled, rising off her stool and toddling over to the hearth to take the pot of apples off that Kelski had been about to start adding ingredients too.

“You gotta blanch them first!” She said authoritarianly. Kelski looked puzzled, as if she’d never heard of such a thing, and studied Mosa as if she were crazy.

“What does that mean?” She demanded, tired already from all this type of work she wasn’t used too. Cooking was hard for the Kelvic, a skill that didn’t come easy to her.

“Blanching is when you take them for a brief bath in boiling water. Use the water you already have on the hearth boiling, and add all those apples in a few at a time in small batches. You watch, Kelvic. They will stop the water from boiling, but you’ll see the apples themselves boil and air will bubble out. If we don’t blanch, the filling won’t stay thick and even. The apples will float due to the air in them. You want them as uniform as possible and evenly distributed throughout the jar. And it takes volume out before you even cook the filling and preserve it so you don’t start out with a full jar of filling but after you’ve processed the full jars, get only a half jar of filling. So, you dunk those apples, child… for a chime or so, that’s all…. And then go on like you were going to go on. It will make a far lovelier can of apple filling that way.” She added gesturing for Kelski to get on with it.

Taking a big slotted spoon, Kelski did as Mosa instructed with Hattie watching curiously. The former had obviously been the head of a household at one time or another and in charge of all those sorts of things. While the latter had been a free spirit roaming the wilds. Both had their places and gave a lot of knowledge to the Demesne, but it was different sorts of knowledges. Kelski figured that’s why they were so good of friends.

Each one had different interests and could endlessly entertain the other with them. She passed the sliced apples through the boiling water, letting them rest within it for only a chime or so. Then she filled the other freshly-cleaned kettle with the blanched apples and got back to work on the rest of the filling recipe. As Kelski worked, Mosa had more to say.


Count: 618

[Kelski]

“You can always tell jarred fruit was packed fresh if it floats. Fruit has a lot of air in it. Did you know that, Kelski girl? It breathes? All that air takes up valuable space in your canning jars, so you got to get rid of it. Now that extra space will be filled with apples instead.” She said, satisfied.

Kelski nodded, understanding. Kelski started with twelve cups of sliced apples, blanched them, and decided she had about nine cups left. And they took up about 2/3’s of the kettle instead of the whole thing. Her recipe said that she didn’t want to can them in water or syrup and needlessly draw out their flavor. Instead, she wanted to can them in a thickened gel made up of sugar, spices, lemon juice and cornstarch. Kelski carefully measured out all the ingredients except the lemon juice and then added it to the pot with the apples. Kelski stirred the mixture confidently, patiently, not wanting to burn anything. When the sauce began to thicken, Kelski then added the lemon juice and let the mixture boil for another few chimes until she took it off the heat.

Once that was done, Kelski only had to fill the jars, attach the lids, and get the water rolling in the canning bath and her spare pot of boiling water going. Once she processed the jars for twenty-five chimes in each batch, she was able to put away twenty more jars of pie filling. When the jars had cooled, Kelski noticed of the twenty, three had seemed to leak. She was frowning at them, turning them over and over, when Mosa shook her head.

“That’s siphoning. It happens with apple pie filling for some reason. You didn’t leave enough headroom in those jars and the pressure inside sucked the air right out and it took some of the liquid with it. The jar is still sealed and tight… you can store it no worries. But you’ll need to remove the goo off the jar before you do so or ants will move into your pantry. I guarantee it.” She said, which then caused Hattie to launch into an outrageous story about giant ant hills she’d seen in the deep part of Eyktol. She’d said they were over their heads and the ants in them all had wings, unlike the ants up here.

Kelski shuddered at the thoughts. Ants were creepy to her and she let the old women talk and exchange stories as she cleaned and stored the jars. Then with all the apples processed they had harvested at the time, Kelski called it a day and did one more thorough cleaning of the kitchen. She didn’t realize until she was done that she didn’t get to use the pressure lid on the canner… that they’d done no pressure cooking.

Frowning, she decided she’d make that a priority next time.

Count: 484

[Kelski]

G R A D E S

Food Preservation +5, Investigation +4, Arcanology +1, Research +5, Cooking +4, Meditation +2, Psychology +1

Arcanology: Mages Preserving Food Techniques, Food Preservation: Canning Techniques (boiling water bath), Food Preservation: Canning Techniques (Pressure Cooker), Food Preservation: Equipment needed In Canning, Food Preservation: A Pressure Cooker’s Use, Cooking: Peeling, Coring, and Slicing Apples, Cooking: Making Applesauce, Food Preservation: Canning (Jar Packing Techniques), Cooking: Making Apple Pie Filling, Cooking: Blanching Fruits And Vegetables, Food Preservation: Canning (Avoiding Siphoning)

Awards: Batching of Applesauce and Apple Pie Filling Canned

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