- Author: Susan Lutz
Francine had 73 entries in this year's Preserved Foods competition and won the most first place ribbons this year, which earned her the prestigious 2012 Blue Ribbon Sweepstakes Award. To honor her achievement, The Master Food Preservers of Los Angeles County presented Francine with a Thermapen thermometer, generously donated by Thermoworks.
Francine has won the Blue Ribbon Sweepstakes Award nine times since her first win in 2001 and has become a living legend within preserved food competition circles. During the short time I spent with Francine at the LA County Fair, a number of people stopped in their tracks when they realized that they had stumbled upon the elusive Francine Rippy. One woman said she'd always wanted to meet Francine because she'd been losing to her for years. Another woman interrupted our interview to offer Francine the fruit from her neighbor's fig tree. Francine accepted these compliments with grace and left with a new source for fresh figs.
Entering the Preserved Foods Competition at the LA County Fair is only a small part of Francine's food preservation efforts. She preserves food year round, much of it coming from her four-acre property in Hacienda Heights. When asked about her favorite preserved food, Francine said that she likes the boysenberry leather best. Why? Because it's good. And she grows the boysenberries herself, just as her grandmother did.
When Francine was a child, she followed her grandmother around in the boysenberry patch on the family ranch, eating the ripe boysenberries and putting the unripe ones in her basket. When picking berries in her own boysenberry patch, Francine encourages young visitors to do the same. "I tell them that's their job since that's what I did."
Francine's grandparents' ranch has been turned into a museum-- The Hathaway Ranch & Oil Museum-- and Francine is the executive director. In this role, Francine helps to preserve a small piece of California's pioneer past, but she lives very much in the present. She's also always looking forward. I asked Francine if she had any advice for people hoping to enter the preserved foods competition at the LA County Fair next year. She smiled and said, "The judges have a sweet tooth."
- Author: Susan Lutz
Sadly, I missed the event, but fellow MFP Karen Hobart was there and took these photos. (Thanks, Karen!) She reports that Chef Miller gave a great demonstration of classic preservation techniques, which included making strawberry jam, fermented dill pickles, and crushed tomatoes.
If you missed Chef Miller's demonstration and you're still wondering what to do with an overabundance of tomatoes from your garden, check out this new resource page on Home Preserving Tomatoes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
- Author: Susan Lutz
If you haven't already planned your visit to the LA County Fair, now's the time. Master Food Preservers from Los Angeles County are on hand giving demonstrations and waiting to answer your questions about food preservation. On Wednesday, September 5th, Susan Nickels and Nancee Siebert got the ball rolling with a great introduction to the world of jam and jelly production (both with and without pectin).
Volunteers from MFPLA will present demonstrations at the Culinary Styles Stage (under the racetrack grandstand) on Wednesdays and and Fridays, 9/5 - 9/28 from 12 to 3 pm. Topics include jams and jellies, the art of pickling and fermenting, and how to preserve tomatoes.
In the Farm House Kitchen across from the Big Red Barn, MFPs including Liisa Primack (seen above) will be discussing dehydration and other methods of food preservation. Come visit us from 9 am to 12 pm, Wednesdays through Fridays, 9/5- 9/28 and see Liisa's fantastic solar dehydrator.
