Canning~"A Lost Art"

I can remember when my great-grandma Evans would send me out to pick greenbeans, cuccumbers or tomatoes from her garden and then spend all day canning for the winter.  She would gather her jars and boil them and then place whatever item she was working on and then I remember her pulling out the hot lids to seal the jars with a pair of tonges.  She would never let me get to close for fear the lid on the pressure cooker would: "Explode" she would say.  Being the curious one that I was, I would always get as close as possible so that I could see all the activites in the kitchen.

Grandma Evans passed away when I was only nine years old and I never got to learn the "Art of Canning".  I never got the chance to have her teach me because Cancer took over and she was not able to teach me. 

Even though I never learned, I have never forgotten and have always wanted to learn.  Today, there are only a hand full of women that I know who still practice the "Art of Canning".  In this busy world we live in with computers, ipods and video games who has the time or the want to.  For most, the thought is just too time consuming and why would we need too with all the stuff we need at the local supermarket just around every corner....

Recently, I have realized that we have lost our communication skills with others unless it is through FACEBOOK, TEXT MESSAGING or EMAILS.  I for one thing that the ways of the "OLD TIMES" might not be such a bad thing.  The memories I have from watching my grandma in the kitchen, going out and helping pick dinner from the garden and spending time helping her snap the peas or pick the tomatoes for her to can are the best memories I have. 

Thanks to Canning Across America for reminding me of these memories and keeping the "Art of Canning" alive for future genrations to come.