With a jar of fireweed jelly,
memories of summer
Shannon
Kuhn July 31, 2014
Fireweed is in full bloom across Alaska.
In Anchorage’s Fairview neighborhood, the
streets are lined with these fiery magenta harbingers of fall. On a
sunny afternoon last week, Löki Gale Tobin walked through her neighborhood
gathering the delicate blossoms. Careful to only pick a long stem here and
there, she harvested enough for a batch of fireweed Champagne jam to bring
as a gift for her upcoming trip to Juneau.
Before making the jam in her kitchen, Tobin
takes me on a quick tour through her cupboards. Multiple shelves of
Mason jars holding colorful goodies and sweet abundance peer out at us: canned
moose and caribou, peach-ginger jam, collard greens, tomatoes, blueberry-rum
jam, strawberry preserves and salmon.
For Tobin, 30, knowing how to can is about
more than preserving food; it’s a way for her to preserve stories of culture
and memories of place as well.
Tobin's parents moved from Long Island, New
York, to Nome, where she grew up. Her childhood was full of the typical
lessons, like making sure to eat her vegetables and how to layer during inclement
weather. Tobin, however, also learned food preservation methods when she was
young from a well-respected Nome elder named Frida Larson. Little did she
know at the time that those lessons would shape her life.
Tobin attended UAA for her dual bachelor's
degrees in psychology and sociology, and later UAF for a master's degree in
rural development. As part of her master's program, she served as a
Peace Corps Volunteer in Azerbaijan for three years. Spending three formative
years in her early 20s overseas in a developing county, Tobin learned what
community development meant firsthand. She also found herself preserving food
out of necessity for the first time in her life.
“I remember my dad and I seining and canning
when I was young, but at the time even in Nome it was never more than a hobby
for us,” Tobin says. “But in Azerbaijan, I had to can for actual
sustenance, for survival.”
Tobin became something of the community’s
resident canning guru, teaching free classes and sending out newsletters with
recipes and food safety techniques. “I ate sauerkraut like it was going
out of style in the Peace Corps. The entire country ferments everything --
tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, grape leaves, cherries, persimmons...”
Today, Tobin is the communications
and marketing director at the Alaska Community Foundation, where she works
to help build and support strong communities around the state. Since
returning home to Alaska, she has also become an avid road biker.
She recently completed the Fireweed 400, biking from Sheep Mountain
Lodge to Valdez and back. She was one of only three female finishers.
Tobin cans things to eat throughout the winter,
but also to give as gifts to friends and family. “I often add my own
twist on recipes -- I like being creative,” she says. But canning is also
a way Tobin remembers and honors her past. Collards are a staple of the
African-American cooking she grew up on, and she cans them with memories of her
mom in mind. “When I can
tomatoes," she says, "I think of Azerbaijan.”
And in a jar of fireweed Champagne jelly, the story and
traditions Tobin has woven for herself are born and shared with others.
Fireweed Champagne
jelly
Adapted from the UAF
Cooperative Extension
4 cups fireweed blossoms
2 cups Champagne
2 1⁄2
cups sugar
1/8 cup lemon juice
1⁄2
teaspoon butter
1 pack of powdered pectin (Sure-Jell)
1. Sterilize canning jars and prepare lids by boiling in
water.
2. Pick blossoms off fireweed stems and rinse. Combine
blossoms, lemon juice and Champagne in a large saucepan and bring to a
boil for 10 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth. Put the “juice” back into
the pot. Add the pectin and butter in a large saucepan. Bring back to a
boil and add sugar 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Once all sugar is
added, boil hard for 1 minute, continuing to stir constantly.
3. To test, drop 1⁄2
teaspoon of jelly on a cold saucer and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes. If the
mixture does not set to your satisfaction, add 1⁄2
cup sugar to the jelly in the pot and boil hard for 1 minute. Re-test. During
the test, the rest of the jelly mixture should be removed from the heat.
4. When test mixture gels to your satisfaction, ladle jelly
into hot jars, add lids and process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes.
Let cool. You should hear the lids “pop” as a sign that they have sealed
correctly.
Löki's Pot-Licking Applesauce Recipe
3 lbs
apples (I use mostly green, but you can mix it up)
1 cup apple juice or cider
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
2-4 tablespoons honey
1. Peel, quarter and seed apples.
2. In a large pot, combine apples and juice. Bring to a
boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour.
3. Remove lid and stir. The apples should be slightly mushy.
Continue to simmer without the lid stirring every 15 minutes
(breaking up apple pieces).
4. When the sauce has almost reached your desired
consistency, add spices and honey. Cook for another half-hour or so before
serving or canning. (Personally, I like some apple chunks in mine, but if you
want a smooth sauce, run it through a food mill.)
5. If canning, follow the UAF Cooperative Extension
instructions for proper sterilization and preservation.
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