Homemade jam is a perfect canvass for creativity. Fresh seasonal fruit packs plenty of flavor on its own but thanks to the high acid content, fruit jam can be safely canned with herb and spice additions. Tired of the same old peach jam I usually make, I asked the family for new ideas. Lil wanted to combine our freshly picked peaches with farmer’s market blueberries. Alex suggested playing with fresh basil from our garden. And [...]

I am a mad woman harvesting Parisian pickling cucumbers every morning and night. I want them at exactly 2-3 inches in length to make into cornichons. Too small and they aren’t worth processing. Much larger and the skin is bitter. But try as I might, little cukes camouflage themselves under umbrella green leaves. Seemingly overnight, they turn into big honkin’ cucumbers. They can’t be eaten raw and will not make pleasant pickles with thick sharp [...]

I love a good cocktail but I despise maraschino cherries. The rubbery red-flavored spheres resemble the natural fruit in name alone. I decided to tackle creating cocktail cherries at home when faced with an extra quart of fresh local sour cherries after making sour cherry preserves. While searching for a recipe, I discovered a bit of history. Apparently cocktail cherries used to be pitted cherries soaked in maraschino liqueur, hence the name. During prohibition, one [...]

We’re dealing with some health issues, hence posting is light. I’ll fill y’all in when there is some resolution. In the meantime, find some sour cherries. These are the best preserves ever. If I could only eat one jam for the rest of my life, this would be it. Sour cherry preserves kick the lid off all other preserves. <insert your favorite superlative here> I rarely make such declarations and in fact poke fun at [...]

Roasted beets are my favorite.  Earthy, sweet, and purple, my favorite color! Pickled beets are my grandmother’s favorite.  Last year my mother made them for her and this year I decided to do the same. I shared that I was pickling on twitter and discovered that my friend Susan of Travels with Pirates also loves pickled beets.  We made a deal that if she bought the beets (locally from Sippel Farm) I would pickle them. [...]

My aunt Deb picked and delivered a large box of pears from her farm.  We ate some fresh, but soon the pears begged to be preserved before they rotted. My thoughts turned to pear sauce and pear butter, but I have a large store of applesauce already in the pantry and I’m not sure I would enjoy pear butter.  Then I considered, what about brandied pears?  They contain alcohol, which puts them head and shoulders [...]

If you, like me, endeavor to make jelly, the following lessons are helpful to keep in mind: 1. You will have more waste seeds, stems, skins than volume of juice remaining after stewing and food milling fruit. 2. You will want to clarify the juice by pressing it through a chinois. 3. When that gets frustrating, you will want to squeeze it through cheesecloth. 4. You will get impatient and squeeze too much. 5. The [...]