County Extension

             Here are a few pointers for those thinking of trying your hand at making pickles this year. Pickling is a way to preserve food using salt, vinegar and/or sugar. Pickle products are classified on the basis of ingredients used and the method of preparation. There are two general classes:

 Food preservation guidelines have changed through time. Dr. Julie Garden-Robinson, state specialist with the North Dakota Cooperative Extension, developed this quiz to test your knowledge of current food preservation recommendations.

Are these statements myths or facts?

1. Old church cookbooks have great canning recipes you will want to use.

2. As long as you boil the jars of canned vegetables long enough, you will have a safe end product.

 By Sam Marshall

Fall is an exciting time in southeastern North Carolina. We finally get a reprieve from the heat and humidity and the bugs are more tolerable, which means you can begin to reclaim the outdoors and get back in the garden; and now is the time to start a fall vegetable garden. If you typically grow a summer garden — tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash — and no fall garden, you are only getting half the production potential from your beds and are missing out on some tasty cool-season veggies.

 The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2015 edition) are recommending we shift to healthier fats. Specifically, the recommendation is to avoid saturated fats and trans-fats and consume more unsaturated fats. We also hear about omega-3 fatty acids, oleic, linoleic and other types of fats. If you start digging down into the nitty-gritty of oils and fats, information about fatty acids can get very complex very quickly.