More Preserves…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve easily canned over 100 jars of preserves, all from produce growing in our garden.

You should see the storage area in our basement. It’s lined with rows of canned preserves. Jellies, jams, and butters are in the spotlight soon to be joining them will be a variety of pickles; cucumbers, beans, and peppers. Of course I’ll be canning numerous vegetables too. Vegetables are typically low acid foods. Those that aren’t  pickled will need another method for canning than the  hot water bath method. It’s time to pull out the pressure cooker. But let’s not get hasty…

Today I canned some more fruit and herb preserves using the hot water bath method for canning. I made some more grape jelly and there was also mint jelly too.

What I enjoy about fruit preserves is that they can be added to more things than your traditional fare; toast, biscuits, turnovers, tarts, etc., Preserves can also be added to other dishes too such as vegetable dishes, toppings for risotto, a whole host of rice and bean dishes, and of course… they also make a lovely glaze for a variety of meat dishes — if you aren’t vegetarian (or in my case vegan).

The beauty of making your own preserves, is you can get creative and make your own recipes. I like the fact that our preserves aren’t loaded with a lot of unnecessary junk that our bodies really don’t need, and since they aren’t overly sweet they taste more like the fruit in its natural state.