The following story is taken from the history center’s cookbook, History by Food: Stories and Recipes about the Food and Families of Oldham County, Kentucky which is on sell at the Oldham County History Center gift shop.

Canning vegetables and meat was a familiar and common activity when Oldham County was primarily an agricultural county. Small farms dotted the landscape and everyone raised gardens and livestock for the family. Long time resident and farmer, Ann Dick, shares this story and pickle recipe she got from one of her neighbors, Bernice Bottorff:

“Liberty Elementary School on Hwy. 42 in Oldham County was nearly as busy in the summer as during the school term in the 1940s. Ladies from all around brought their garden vegetables to the cannery. The vegetables and fruits were picked, washed, snapped and cut-up at home and taken to the cannery for blanching and canning. Huge stainless steel vats were used for blanching the food. After blanching, the food was then transferred into quart or pint-size tins and sealed. The cans were processed by steam. We were charged a minimal fee, maybe 7 to 10 cents.”

Bernice Bottorff’s Dill Pickles

Sterilize pint jars and place in each jar: 1 clove garlic, 1 clove, 1 flower head of dill or 1 teaspoon of dill weed.
Scrub cucumbers and slice and pack into the jars.
Bring to a boil:
2 quarts white vinegar
1 quart water
1 cup coarse salt
½ teaspoon alum
Pour this boiling hot mixture over the cucumbers in each jar. Seal. Allow to ripen before using (several weeks). When opened, keep in refrigeration.

The following story and recipe was submitted by local resident Jan Morgan about canning meat:
Branstetter’s Canned Pork Tenderloin

“I learned how to home-can pork from my mother, Aline Branstetter, on the farm near Horse Cave, Ky. Our entire family treasured this delicious tenderloin and it was usually saved for special occasions, such as Christmas morning. In my opinion, there is nothing as delicious as this tenderloin and the accompanying white gravy made with the natural juices that came from the bottom of the quart jar. To this day, my brother and I reminisce about this yummy meat and gravy and long to have it for family gatherings again. In my mother’s later years, even when there was no hog killing, she would purchase tenderloin from the store and home-can 3 or 4 jars just so we could enjoy it for special occasions.
After the hog was butchered, the leanest part of the tenderloin was removed and cut into slices about 1 to 2 inches thick. Next, one would tightly pack these slices/pieces into quart jars. (I often got this packing job because my young-girl hands were smaller than my mom’s). Then a small amount of water (approximately ½ cup) was added to the jar of meat. The jars were sealed with jar lids and rims and placed into my grandmother’s pressure cooker (and I still use this cooker today for my vegetable canning!). Enough water was put into the pressure cooker so that the jars were sitting about threes inches deep. Then the lid was clamped and screwed down very tightly with the stem shuttle open. When the steam would begin spewing from the shuttle-cock, the escape valve was closed and the pressure cooker continued to build up pressure. When the pressure reached 10 pounds, the burner was adjusted to maintain that pressure for approximately 50 minutes to one hour. Then the burner would be turned off, allowing the pressure cooker to cool and the pressure to go back to zero. Next, the shuttle-cock was opened to let off the small amount of remaining steam. Then, and only then, could we open the lid and remove the jars of beautiful pink tenderloin bubbling in its own juices.”

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