With the canning season beginning and (nearly) two jars of tomato sauce under our belts (note that jar #2 is not quite so full as jar #1), I got curious about meat sauces. Aside from the type of canned food I’d generally stay away from, you don’t often see pasta sauces with meat in the grocery aisle. If we’re using a pre-made sauce, most of us are adding meat at home. With that in mind, I began to wonder what sort of conditions one would need to can a home-made meat sauce: would it be much different from the process of canning vegetarian tomato sauce? I asked this question of the canning expert of the moment over at Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn. Marisa McClellan, author of Food in Jars, gave her answer.

It’s actually a very different process. The reason we’re able to can fruits and some vegetables in nothing more than a boiling water canner is that they are high acid foods…. However, meat is a low acid food, which is the ideal environment for botulism. Because of this, low acid foods need to be processed in a pressure canner.

Read her full explanation here.

I’m thinking of taking advantage of this end-of-summer sale at Chiasso to get a hanging planter for our dining room. At half their original price, this is a deal I thought I’d share.

Not all hanging pots are meant to be used inside, so I was most excited to find these planters are indoor-friendly. I’m hoping that means when I water the spider plant (now living in a small bowl) it won’t drip down onto our hardwood floors.

Image: Chiasso

I love fall; it is my favorite season. But for whatever reason, be it the cold summer we’ve had or how much I’ve been enjoying the summer, I am not ready for fall to be here. So it was pretty jarring to see crates full of large winter squashes at the Midtown Farmers’ Market this morning. Surely it’s not squash time already!? I usually make a point of buying whatever is new in the market any given week, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy winter squash. Not yet.

Luckily, things are not all squash and storage potatoes. There were still plenty of tomatoes, and I got my usual sungolds and assorted heirlooms. Summer is hanging on enough for there still to be sweet corn. There is an abundance of peppers of all varieties—with the deals you can get on red bell peppers at this time of year they are impossible to pass up. Tomatillos are also in season, and you can still buy green beans, although they are getting a bit tougher than they were earlier in the year. Cucumbers are still available but they are either very large or, as with the ones I bought, very, very small. Perfect for cornichons! Herbs and lettuces, which have been available most of the season, are still available. The beets, potatoes and onions are representing the root vegetable contingent; I haven’t seen a lot of turnips yet. More of those in the fall.

In perhaps another sign of fall, apples are everywhere. None of the vaunted Honeycrisps yet (let alone any SweeTangos), but as much Zestar and Gingergold as you could ever want. Given my preference for unique produce, I went for the crab apples. Yes, crab apples. As the vendor pointed out, crab apples have an undeserved bad reputation and, sampling one, I had to agree. They were not quite as tart as I like, but they had good crisp texture and a nice, compact size.

With guests in town for Labor Day weekend, this time Martha’s sister and two nephews, our usual bike ride was traded for the car. This meant we were able to bring home fresh flowers (thanks to Sara!) and eggs, which are usually a bit tough to get home in one piece inside a backpack. Martha’s nephew John picked out some extra-sharp cheddar from the cheese vendor as well.

As you an see, the splendor of summer is still in ready evidence everywhere at the farmers’ market, but the trickle of fall crops will become a steady flow before too long. All the more reason to get to the market as soon as possible.

While checking out this NYTime’s Interactive on Wednesday, part of their “Shopping with [fillintheblank]” series in the Home & Garden section, this bike rack really jumped out at me. It’s slim, it’s good looking, and it’s $13 on Amazon. We’ve talked about hanging bikes in small spaces before, but this one takes the cake at 10% of the cost of the Cycloc. You’ll probably need Da Vinci’s back tire tray as well for $6, bringing you another six away from $25 free shipping.

Image, Delta Cycle.

Couldn’t resist re-blogging this (via Oh Joy! by Dominic Episcopo). I’m just sorry the U.P. is missing… and that isn’t the best depiction of the L.P. either. But hey, when’s the last time you sculpted a steak?

See two more at Oh Joy! and check out Episcopo’s amazing food photography by navigating to the portfolio’s food section on the aforelinked site.