Earl Weak, UC Master Food Preserver Online Delivery Program Volunteer

County of residence: Alameda

Earl Weak relaxes at his home after an orange harvest (used with permission)

My name is Earl Weak. I became UC Master Food Preserver (MFP) in 2024 as a member of the first class of the Online Delivery Program. My boyhood home was in Abilene, Kansas. I went to the same high school that Dwight Eisenhower graduated from about 60 years before my graduation in 1963. President Eisenhower returned to Abilene a few times while I was in grade school. I still remember my kindergarten teacher talking about the beautiful tulip garden at the Eisenhower home. I think the tulip bulbs for the garden were a gift from the Netherlands after World War II.

While in high school, I started working in the chemistry lab at the local flour mill. This started my interest in flour milling and food technology. After completing high school, I continued my education at Kansas State University in the grain-science program. I graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in food science. After my Army service and more schooling, I started working in the baking industry. My first job was with a national bakery in Kansas City, MO. I worked with bread, fried pies, and cakes. I moved to California for my next job with a cookie-baking company. Large baking ovens were used for baking low-moisture, crisp cookies. I also worked with chocolate to coat some of the cookies and gained additional experience working with fig bars and other fruit-filled cookies.

After retiring, my interest in food preservation directed me to the University of California’s MFP Program. However, I live in Alameda County, which doesn’t have a county-based Program. In 2024, UC started an online MFP Program. I applied and was accepted.  The MFP training has given me new insights into food preservation. I quickly gained appreciation for steam canning. The steam canner is much lighter and comes to a boil much faster than a water-bath canner. Steam canning works for high-acid foods such as apples. I also gained appreciation for dehydrating vegetables. Zucchini dehydration has given me new uses for my summer zucchini surplus!

Now for my last few words. This year, I started my 81^st trip around the sun. I am an old guy (geezer) but I can always learn new things. The MFP Program presents that opportunity. My grandmother was born in 1875. I don’t remember her talking about canning, but she did have many stories to tell about living in a sod house in Nebraska. I still remember her story about making cottage cheese and how she determined the heat level (no thermometers) in the oven of her wood-burning stove. She liked to read and in my young days she would read to me, even my books on dinosaurs.