I can’t stop time, but I can preserve the summer just a little, and capture some of my childhood summers at the same time. When I was a little girl, I would spend some of those infinite summers with my great grandmother, eating berries out of her garden, getting into her cookie jar (I can still remember where it was kept), and eating her homemade tomato jam. Not a chutney, or another version of ketchup, the way so many tomato preserves recipes are, but a tomato jam, brightened with lemon, with that musky tomato flavor and the pure sweetness of preserved summer. Perfect on toast, for that lazy summer breakfast, this really is summer in a jar.
Entries Tagged as 'canning'
Preserving Summer — Tomato Jam
August 29th, 2011 · 11 Comments · Condiments, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal, Summer
The Care and Keeping of Strawberries
April 12th, 2011 · 3 Comments · Baked Goods and Desserts, Condiments, Food Explorer, Kitchen Management, Non Recipe, Photo, Recipes
Springtime is strawberry season! And even though the strawberries aren’t quite there yet (the heavy rains we’ve had in California have really impacted the flavor), that hasn’t stopped me from buying and eating pounds of them — I’ve loved them since I was a baby. For your reading pleasure, below are 10 things you may [...]
Tags: berries·canning·fruit·jam·strawberries
Gifts from the Kitchen: Pear and Vanilla Preserves
November 17th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Autumn, Gift Guide, Holiday, Kitchen Management, Recipes, Seasonal, Tutorial, Vegetables and Sides
I was very sad to have missed the summer jam season this year. With all the craziness around buying the house and moving, I never got around to putting up plum jam, or strawberry balsamic, or peach and basil, and my stash from last year is getting dangerously low. Fortunately, I still have a few seasonal fruit tricks up my sleeve. Like this pear jam with vanilla beans, which will make your heart swell with domestic pride and impress anyone you care to give it to.
