Get properly pickled this holiday season

Interested in safely preserving food for you and your family? Gift yourself or a loved one with a registration to Preserve @ Home, an award-winning, self-paced online food safety and preservation course presented by the Oregon State University Extension Service in Tillamook County.

Participants will learn how to produce high-quality preserved foods as well as studying the science behind food preservation and food safety.

Topics to be covered in the six-week program include: foodborne illness – causes and prevention; spoilage and canning basics; canning specialty high-acid foods – pickles, salsa, jams, jellies, etc.; canning low-acid foods; and freezing and drying.

Supplemental materials this year will include materials on planting varieties for food preservation and cold storage and root cellaring.

Registration deadline is Monday, Jan. 11, and the first class is on Thursday, Jan. 14. Each lesson includes downloadable and printable text, an online forum to facilitate participant discussion and a live interactive weekly chat session on Zoom with classmates and instructors.

Registration is $45, plus the cost of some required supplemental materials. Most of the supplemental materials are available free, online or from the OSU Extension Office in Tillamook.

Register at extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/preserve-home-oregon.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by Monday, Dec. 28 to Nancy Kershaw, 503-842-3433, or Nancy.Kershaw@oregonstate.edu.