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Henry Shaw, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Your Name Here MFP Badge (Photo caption: Henry Shaw, used with permission). Do you want to learn more about safe food-preservation techniques? Do you have a passion for sharing your knowledge with others? Are you willing to donate your…

Robyn Barker, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer If you have a sunny spot in your garden or on your patio, chili peppers are fun and easy to grow. The plants don’t get too large; they can even be grown in a container. They are relatively disease and pest free. With limited space and…

Mary Nazara, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program VolunteerCounty of residence: Los Angeles Mary Nazara, used with permission.  I started preserving in the summer of 2022 after a phone call from my sister. She had a tree full of ripe plums and didn’t want them to go to waste. I already had…

Henry Shaw UC Master Food Preserver Online Program VolunteerCounty of residence: Contra Costa Image credit: Henry Shaw, 2025. My love of food and cooking began as a small child at my mother’s side in the kitchen. Over the decades, both my culinary interests and kitchen skills have grown…

Kirsten Hansen, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Jar of pie filling on a marble countertop (Photo by Penny Pearson, used with permission).  October is peak apple and pear season across much of California. This tasty Apple-Pear-Cranberry pie filling makes the most of the season…

Henry Shaw, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Image Credit: Henry Shaw, 2025.  Do you want to learn more about safe food-preservation techniques? Do you have a passion for sharing your knowledge with others? Are you willing to donate your time as a volunteer for a good cause?…

Monica Gross, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Image Credit: Monica Gross, 2025.  Can you imagine an activity that allows you to experience all of your five senses? Cooking and preparing food are just such activities! Allow me to walk you through an experience that involved…

Kirsten Hansen, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Image Credit: Kirsten Hansen, 2025.  I recently gave birth to my first child, which means that I left behind the many recommendations about what pregnant people should and should not eat and have entered the world of what…

Jadrian Johnson UC Master Food Preserver Online Program VolunteerCounty of residence: Los Angeles Image credit: Jadrian Johnson, 2025. There is a unique alchemy in food preservation, a practice that feels just as much a form of time travel as it does domestic science. Within a simple jar, we can…

Michele Jones UC Master Food Preserver Online Program VolunteerCounty of residence: Placer Image credit: Maria Giovanni, 2025 Hi, my name is Michele Jones, and I am proud to be a recent graduate of the UC Master Food Preserver Program, graduating in June 2025. I grew up watching my mother and…