Monthly Articles To-date

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…

Paige Weisskirch, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Freezing fruit at home is one of the simplest and most effective ways to preserve your harvest, or that great farmers-market haul, so nothing goes to waste. It gives you the convenience of having high-quality, ready-to-use fruit at your…

Monica Gross, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer There are a surprising number of uses for tomato skin! This article will explain how to make a powder out of tomato skins and what to do with that powder (Fig.1). Prior to canning tomatoes, it’s necessary to remove the tomato skin. This is…

Joy Agcongay, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer The Overlooked Step That Protects Your Dehydrated Foods: The Critical Step of Conditioning in Food DehydrationWhy Conditioning MattersConditioning refers to the process of evenly redistributing any remaining moisture across a batch of…

Jadrian Johnson, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer Image credit: Jadrian Johnson, 2025 If your childhood tasted like Atomic Warheads and early-generation Sour Patch Kids, you already know the joy of a good sour pucker. This recipe for frozen sour grapes brings that same zingy magic,…