It may seem a bit early to be thinking about County Fairs, but the updated Foods for Iowa 4-H Fairs – Quick Reference Guide is now available in the Extension Store. Each year, for the past few years, we have updated this guide to assist 4-H members, their parents, 4-H leaders, and fair judges in preparing and evaluating exhibits. At times, the rules may seem confusing, arbitrary, or even unfair to some people. The rules are actually designed to ensure the safety of fair judges as they evaluate foods at the fair and the safety of the general public as they view exhibits and gain knowledge from the exhibits.

We get a lot of questions about what foods can be exhibited at both county fair and the Iowa State Fair at AnswerLine. We consult the publication and advise callers to the best of our knowledge. Often callers want to know why we did not list everything in the guide. It really would be impossible for us to list everything that a 4-H member might want to exhibit. We have tried to use broad categories to describe different food products. Listing the foods in the chart style allows for a quicker reference than reading through several pages listed in paragraph form.

The only two real changes for this year are the discontinuation of using the Ball brand books as safe tested resources for food preservation exhibits. At this time, Iowa is one of several states in the midwest disappointed at the direction the Ball brand has taken with research and development of their recipes. This year only, 2020, we will allow exhibits using the Ball branded information at the fair. The reasoning for this is that 4-H members may have already processed their exhibits for the 2020 fair in the fall of 2019 and it would be unfair to disqualify those exhibits. Next year, we will strictly follow the change in the rules that only allows USDA, National Center for Home Food Preservation, and Extension information as trusted resources.

The other change is in frosting allowed on exhibits. We are waiting on some research being done by Kansas State University on butter cream frostings to ensure that frostings on baked goods will be safe when sampled at the fair. Many of the frostings that members choose have too much moisture in them and could potentially harbor bacterial growth.

Please call or email AnswerLine if you need some clarification on what foods are considered safe to exhibit at the fair this summer.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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New Years resolutions are often broken by the time we reach mid-January. Last week we talked about the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website and all the amazing information you can access on that site. Today I wanted to mention the Move section of the Spend Smart. Eat Smart website.

The Move section details some of the many benefits of leading an active life. There is also information listing the different types of exercise and the amount of exercise you should do to live a healthy life. The site encourages movement and exercise and provides detailed explanations of the moves required to do the exercises with perfect form.

There are also several videos that you can watch and follow along to get in a good work out. Check this site out today if you feel your New Years resolution slipping away.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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It has been such an odd winter, with temperatures rising and falling and no real snow cover. I always have my bird feeders out in the winter but the lack of actual winter weather had me wondering if it was still necessary to feed the birds. I wondered what information was available through our Extension and Outreach resources that could answer my questions.

I’ve learned that birds will eat from feeders all year and that birdseed is only a part of a wild bird’s diet. Habitat around the feeder is important so I’m grateful that we live out in the country and my feeder is placed at the edge of a pasture. The trees and bushes in the pasture provide shelter and a place to hide for the more timid birds. We often attract a wide variety of birds; Cardinals, Blue Jays, various Woodpeckers, Sparrows, Grackels, and Starlings.

I have often purchased bird seed without really understanding what I was buying. This chart provides information on which seed is preferred by different species of birds. I have a greater understanding of how the seed I have in my feeder affects which birds are attracted to my feeder. As much as I enjoy the Blue Jays, I will be sure not to feed peanuts as the squirrel is attracted to them.

Also, I did not realize that corn can be a source of aflatoxins which can kill birds. I should be cleaning and sanitizing the feeders on a regular basis. In the past, I have scraped out dried and crusted feed. Now I plan to take the feeder inside the house and wash it out. It will make it so much easier for the birds to use the feeder.

It looks like I have some work to do when I get home tonight. I hope the work helps the birds in my yard.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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If you are one of the many people that resolved to eat better or lose some weight in 2020, we have a great resource for you. Did you know about the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website? This site is a great resource that everyone should check out. They have great recipes for healthy living. This site, as the name implies, also can help you save money on groceries.

The Spend Smart. Eat Smart website is so complete. They have information on shopping, reading food labels, videos with demonstrations on preparing vegetables, and also a smart phone app so you can have their information available while you are grocery shopping. So MUCH information, and all of it free for you. Take some time to check out this website. You won’t regret it.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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New Years resolutions can be so hard to keep. If you have decided not to make any resolutions this year, consider resolving to use AnswerLine on a regular basis to answer your home and family questions.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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Weather forecasters are busy predicting a second winter storm for the north west.  After all the rain we have had this fall, I’m starting to think about getting ready for winter myself.  Over the years, I’ve learned that as winter approaches I need to check the pantry to make sure I have enough staples to make it through being snowed in for a couple of days. Since I live on a farm, we usually have a freezer (or two) filled with enough beef and pork to provide meals for several months. When the kids lived at home, we always had a big garden and canned and froze a variety of fruits and vegetables. Now that it is just my husband and myself, I always try to have a variety of commercially canned and frozen vegetables and fruits on hand. As long as I keep my flour, sugar, and oil containers reasonably full, I know that I can bake just about anything else we might need. Keeping powdered dry milk on hand also helps me avoid the grocery store when everyone else is rushing in to pick up that loaf of bread and gallon of milk. We don’t really enjoy drinking reconstituted milk, but when you need milk for baking it is great to have some in the house. We have blogged over the years about keeping a winter kit inside the car with items you may need if you get stuck in the snow. I try to check my kit before Christmas so that I have those things fully stocked when the first big storm hits. We have also blogged about understanding weather terms and just how to prepare your home and pets to stay safe. We are lucky to live in a time when it is so easy to wait out a winter storm and stay safe. I’m still waiting for those first snow flakes to fall.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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Now that we have had several frosty nights, it is time to think about getting the garden finished for the season. I have been reading some press releases from Richard Jauron a the Hortline at Iowa State University to remind me of everything I need to accomplish this week . If you want to speak with Richard directly, you can call him at 515-294-3108 any weekday between 10 to noon or 1 to 4:30.

I plan to follow his directions for getting my garden ready for winter. I will need to mulch my strawberry bed to prevent damage to the plants from repeated freezing and thawing. Temperatures much below 20 degrees F could kill the flower buds or damage the roots of the plants. I do have some time to get my mulch prepared as the advice for mulching includes letting the plants acclimate to the cooler weather before mulching. I plan to use chopped cornstalks as they are more readily available to me than oat, wheat, or soybean straw.

I have been trying to get all the garden debris cleaned out of the garden between rainstorms this fall. Removing garden debris helps control the spread of disease and prevents insects from overwintering in the dead plants. I took the tomato plants out when they stopped bearing tomatoes. The plants didn’t look very healthy at that point. The potatoes were dug early to prevent them from rotting in the ground. The onions were pulled early for the same reason. I’ll get everything else out later this week, but with a late harvest, I’m not sure my husband will be able to till the garden yet this fall. If he is able to get that done for me, the garden will dry out and warm up a bit earlier next spring.

If we have a warm weekend, I hope to clean up my garden tools. Richard advises removing that caked-on soil from shovels, hoes, and rakes. Wash the tools and coat with WD-40 to prevent rust. Blades and edges of hoes and shovels can be sharpened. If I have lots of time, and energy, I can sand the rough handles on both of my hoes. Both hoe handles are very rough and I don’t like the way they feel when I use them. Richard says that linseed oil will prevent cracking and drying of the handles. I have already put my hoses away for the winter. I drained and coiled them carefully to ensure that they will be in great shape next spring.

Hopefully, the time I take this fall to get things cleaned up will make gardening in the spring more enjoyable.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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Although we are already part way through October, there is still plenty of time to celebrate Porktober19.  Pork is a very versatile meat and can be prepared many different ways.  Pork has been a part of my family’s life for many years as we raised a lot of hogs on our farm.  My husband and I continued the family tradition of raising hogs from farrow to finish (birth to market). After we made the tough decision to get out of the hog business, I worked for a neighbor as a herdswoman for an additional 5 years.  We always had pork in the freezer as we took a hog or two to the locker plant in town every year.  It is easy to make a quick work night supper with some ham steaks or pork chops or a special family meal with a pork loin roast. 

If you are in a rut and need some new and interesting pork recipes, the Iowa Pork Producers have plenty of new recipes that you may enjoy. If you are a new cook or have not had a chance to cook pork for a while, the National Pork Board has some great, quick videos covering multiple ways to cook or work with pork.  They demonstrate how to cook pork chops or how to cut down a large tenderloin into cops and roasts.  There is also a demonstration on how to correctly use a thermometer to check if the pork has been cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Enjoy some pork tonight.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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We get calls all year long from consumers wanting to substitute honey for sugar.  Some people prefer the taste of honey, some feel that honey is a more “natural” product, and some think that honey is healthier than sugar.

We help callers understand the facts surrounding honey and sugar substitutions.  If the substitution is in a baked product, you will substitute half of a cup of honey for one cup of sugar. Remember to decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for every cup of honey used.  Sometimes this substitution will affect the overall quality of the product.  The best option would be to start with a recipe designed to use honey. 

If you wish to substitute honey for sugar in a drink, such as lemonade, use half the amount as listed above, but do consider using a bit of hot water to help the honey dissolve into the drink.

Honey is a natural product produced by bees using the nectar from flowers to make honey.  Raw honey contains pollen grains but is usually available in the store as processed honey.  This product may have been heated or filtered.  Sugar is also a natural product made by processing sugar beets or sugar cane.  We should avoid using an excessive amount of either product.

For our callers that think of honey as a healthier option, it does have a small amount of minerals but overall it is not really much healthier than sugar. The American Diabetes Association states that there is no advantage substituting honey for sugar in the diabetic diet.  Most of us would benefit by limiting our sugar intake. 

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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It may seem early but I have some ideas for Christmas gifts for the Canner in your life.  We get lots of calls this time of year from people that need a resource that has tested recipes.  The So Easy To Preserve canning book from the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Georgia is a perfect gift.  All the recipes were scientifically tested and if the canner follows them exactly, they are guaranteed to have both a good and safe result.  This book is available through the UGA Marketplace on-line store.  If you purchase through the University of Georgia, the cost will be $20.00,which includes shipping and handling. 

Almost anyone with a hobby can use more tools.  Your canning friend may need an updated canner.  New canners are readily available this time of year and may even be on sale for the end of the season.  Remember that if you purchase a pressure canner with a dial gauge that the gauge should be tested yearly. Many county Extension and Outreach offices in Iowa perform the yearly tests. Call us at AnswerLine and we can help you find someone to test your gauge. Weighted gauge canners never need testing. Wide mouthed funnels make filling jars easier and headspace tools make it easy to have the correct amount of headspace inside of a jar. You may find these and other tools on sale, too.  

Often recipes call for amounts of vegetables by weight. A new digital scale that is easy to use and easy to clean would make a great gift. A new thermometer, digital and instant read can ensure your canning friends get ingredients to exactly the right temperature. These thermometers come in several styles. You can purchase a folding thermometer that has a thin probe, or a smaller one that can easily clip inside shirt pocket. Either one would be a handy addition to your canning friend’s tool kit.

For those who enjoy personalized gifts, a name necklace is a great option. This type of necklace can be customized with the recipient’s name or the name of a loved one, making it a thoughtful and unique gift. There are many different styles and materials to choose from, such as gold, silver, or even acrylic. A name necklace can be worn alone or layered with other necklaces for a trendy look. It’s a great way for your canning friend to show off their individuality and keep a special name close to their heart.

Another option for a unique necklace gift is a locket necklace. Lockets can hold a special picture or message, making it a sentimental gift that your canning friend will cherish for years to come. Lockets come in many different styles and materials, such as gold, silver, or even wood. They can be simple or ornate, depending on the recipient’s style. A locket necklace is a timeless piece of jewelry that can be passed down through generations, making it a truly special gift.

While there are many other options for gifts, this list may help you get started finding something special for someone special in your life. Merry Christmas.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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