The February Community Canning Challenge is to gather up your frozen fruit and get it out of the deep freeze and transform it into something that is delicious and ready to use. I’m not suggesting that you gather up all your smoothie ingredients and turn them into jam, but instead go for the things that you tucked away during the height of the summer growing season with the intention of doing something with it later. That later is now!

I have two things in my freezer that I plan on tackling this month. The first is an eight cup tub of tomatoes that I chopped back in August intending to make tomato jam. I never got around to jamming them, and I’ve decided that they will serve us better as pizza sauce, so that’s what I’m going to do (look for that early next week). I also have a bag of apricot halves from last June. Those are destined for a batch of this Apricot Meyer Lemon jam that I first posted almost exactly 9 years ago.

So, let’s get into the nitty gritty of transforming frozen fruit into delicious jams, butters, and sauces. It’s a pretty straight forward process, but there are a few things to take into account. The first is understanding what freezing does to fruit. When you take fresh fruit and freeze it, the water content in the fruit turns into ice crystals. Those ice crystals expand as they form (because ice is a solid that takes up more space than water does when it is in its liquid form) and they break apart the cell walls of the fruit.

This isn’t a big deal while the fruit remains frozen, but it is why frozen fruit weeps so much liquid when you defrost it. The cell walls are no longer intact and so they can’t hold that liquid in place. Often, the temptation will be to drain that liquid away, but I prefer to include it in the preserving process. I find that if you omit the the water that weeps out from your frozen fruit, your product can end up overset or without the right consistency because the cooking time was altered. This isn’t the case with all things (if you are making tomato paste for instances, draining the tomatoes before cooking might be the right choice), so use your judgment.

Another pitfall that happens when you’re working with frozen fruit is that it can oxidize during the defrosting process. If this happens, the fruit ends up turning brown and developing an off flavor. If you are making something that includes sugar, there is an easy fix for this issue. Sugar the fruit while it is still frozen. The sugar helps prevent the oxidation from taking place and leaves you with a higher quality product in the end. If you aren’t adding sugar to your fruit, another solution is to defrost it slowly in the fridge rather than quickly on the countertop or in a bowl of warm water. The gradual defrosting can reduce the amount of discoloration that you experience.

Good Recipes for Using Frozen Fruit

When you choose a recipe for transforming frozen fruit, your best bet is to look for those that use weight rather than cups as the starting measurement. That’s because frozen fruit is unwieldy and it is going to be a whole lot easier to just put your pot on the scale, zero it out, and plop the frozen fruit directly into the pot. Trying to measure defrosted fruit in cups is messy and not super accurate.

Tomato Jam – This is one of the most beloved recipes on this site. If you’ve got a cache of frozen tomatoes and you like this sweet and savory spread, know that it works very well with frozen tomatoes. It starts with five pounds of tomatoes, which will help clean out the freezer nicely.

Slow Cooker Peach Butter – This recipe will work for any stone fruit you’ve got kicking around in your freezer (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and cherries all spring immediately to mind). If you do choose to make this with you frozen fruit, this is a situation where you want to let your fruit fully defrost in the fridge with the bag/container sealed the whole time. When you go to puree the defrosted fruit, add your lemon juice with the fruit. This will help buffer against any oxidation.

Cherry Blueberry Jam – If you don’t happen to have a stash of blueberries and cherries in your freezer, this is a recipe that could be made with store bought frozen fruit with no sacrifice to the finished product. No matter what fruit you’re using, this is a situation in which I would put the frozen fruit directly into your cooking pot and add the sugar on top. Once it is defrosted, stir the sugar into the fruit, add the remaining ingredients and proceed with the recipe.

Mixed Berry Jam – When I made this jam for my partnership with Ball, I used frozen fruit. The finished product was absolutely delicious. All the guidance for using frozen fruit is already baked into the blog post.

Pear Vanilla Caramel Sauce – A highly flexible recipe, you can make this caramel sauce with a variety of fruit purees. So dig into your freezer and look for things like pears, strawberries, peaches or mango. Defrost in the container in the fridge to prevent oxidation and proceed with the recipe.

Hopefully those suggestions give you an idea of where to start. Let me know if you have questions and enjoy the opportunity to clear out your freezer!

Health salad is essentially a quick pickled sweet and sour cabbage dish and it is one of the foundational dishes of east coast deli culture. You’ll often see it served alongside pickles at the start of a dine-in deli meal, as something to munch on while you decide what to order. I came to love it during the years that we had an outpost of Philly’s Famous Fourth Street Deli on our block.

There are a number of ways to make health salad, but the fixed stars in the recipe’s constellation are cabbage, vinegar, and more sugar than you’d expect for something with the word “health” in the name. I season mine with salt, pepper, and celery seed, and add carrot to accompany the cabbage. Other recipes will sometimes include bell pepper (both green and red), cucumber, and thinly shaved radishes.

Take whatever vegetables you plan on using (this time, I used half a green cabbage and one very large carrot) and either finely slice it with a sharp knife or use the shredding blade on your food processor. I always find myself debating which is more work, hand slicing everything or cleaning the food processor. This time, the food processor felt easier, so that’s how I did it.

Once the veg is ready, prepare the dressing by combining 3/4 cup white vinegar with 1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons neutral oil, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon celery seed in a small saucepan. Warm the dressing, stirring as it heats, until the sugar is dissolved. You do not want to boil the dressing or even make it particularly warm. You just want to ensure the sugar melts into the vinegar.

When the dressing is ready, pour it over the veg. Stir to combine and let it sit for awhile. Pack it into a jar and refrigerate it. Provided you use a scrupulously clean jar and you’re careful about using clean utensils when portioning it out, this salad will keep for at least two weeks in the fridge.

Now, let’s talk canning, because I know someone will eventually ask me, “can you can health salad?” Currently, as my recipe is written, you cannot. There aren’t any tested recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation or Ball that are easily translated to this application. The closest thing I can find is a recipe for Spiced Red Cabbage in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It uses 12 pounds of cabbage and 8 cups of vinegar, but provided one kept the ratios of veg to vinegar, it does seem like a canning safe recipe could be written. If there is interest, I could work on that, but for today we’re making health salad one quart at a time and keeping it in the fridge.

For more about health salad, make sure to read Sonya Sanford’s article on the topic. And if you find you like a fridge pickle like this one, don’t miss this giant bowl of pickles. It’s always a winner.

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Health Salad Recipe

Quick pickled sweet and sour cabbage, with carrots

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Pickling Time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 15 minutes minutes

Servings 1 quart

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 1/2 green cabbage
• 1 large carrot
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar use less if your carrot is very sweet
• 2 tbsp neutral oil I used sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp celery seed

Instructions

• Shred or slice the cabbage and carrot. You can do this with a sharp knife, on a box grater, or with a food processor. When the veg is ready, scoop it into a large bowl.
• In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, oil, salt, pepper, and celery seeds. Whisk over medium heat just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
• Pour the warm dressing over the cabbage (if it was near a boil when you removed it from the stove, let it cool for a couple times). Turn the veg with a pair of tongs, to ensure everything is well combined.
• Let the health salad sit and marinate at room temperature for half an hour or so. Then pack it into a clean quart jar (you may have a little leftover that didn't fi into the jar. Find an appropriately sized container and proceed) and refrigerate for about a day before eating.
• This health salad will keep for at least two weeks in the refrigerator. Practice good pickle hygiene and make sure to always use clean utensils when removing some from the jar. It's also a good idea to use a clean paper towel and wipe down the interior of the jar where there's no more salad. Cleaning off any lingering slips of veg will help extend its life.

On the food preservation side of the Community Canning Challenge this month, we are focusing on brassicas and root vegetables. These storage friendly crops are widely available in the northern hemisphere this time of year, but given their innate sturdiness, should also be within easy reach if you’re playing along from the southern hemisphere. I really wanted to keep things easy for this first challenge of the year.

Brassica is an official genus designation that includes plants in the cabbage and mustard family. Common representatives of this class include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, rutabaga, and turnip. The category of root vegetable is less official and for our preservation purposes, encompasses things like carrots, parsnips, radishes, and beets. Some root vegetables are members of the brassica family, but not all.

These vegetables lend themselves to pickling (either quick or water bathed), fermenting, and pressure canning. Within those categories, there is a wide world of possibilities.

If you’re leaning towards doing a quick pickle (aka a refrigerator pickle), take a quick read through the primer I wrote during the first Mastery Challenge. It’s got a lot of really useful information and offers up a bunch of suggestions on what you might want to quick pickle. I will have a recipe up tomorrow for Health Salad, which is an East Coast deli staple, and is nothing more that quickly pickled sweet and sour cabbage. I don’t have a ton of processed pickles that meet the brief on the blog, but here are a list of recipes from the archives that work for what we’re going for this month.

• Mustard Pickles (this is a Matty Matheson recipe. His canning instructions are for open kettle canning, which is NOT advised these days. I make these and refrigerate them.)
• Spiralized Pickled Golden Beets with Ginger
• Quick Pickled Radishes
• Multicolored Carrot and Green Radish Pickles
• Quick Pickled Romanesco Broccoli
• Pickled Carrots and Daikon
• Pickled Carrots
• Quick Pickled Broccoli (this one is over on the Fillmore Container blog, but was a recipe I wrote for them).
• Garlicky Kohlrabi Relish
• Waste Prevention Pickles (make these with kale and broccoli stems to ensure every scrape is used!)

If you are leaning towards a fermented preserve, here are some more suggestions.

• Quart Jar Cabbage and Carrot Kraut
• Kimchi Kraut
• Taco Kraut
• Hot Dog Kraut
• Red Cabbage, Apple, Ginger Kraut
• Krauty the Vampire Slayer (this recipe is from Amanda Feifer’s excellent book Ferment Your Vegetables. She’s not really writing about fermentation anymore, but her blog Phickle remains an EXCEPTIONAL resource.
• Tiny White Turnips, Fermented
• Homemade Kimchi
• Quick Chopped Cabbage Kimchi (from Korean Home Cooking)

If you don’t like the things on your list, remember that you don’t have to use one of my recipes. There are hundreds of food preservation cookbooks out there and many times more recipes on the internet. Just one word of warning. If you are using a new-to-you pickle recipe and you plan on processing it in a boiling water bath canner, make sure that the vinegar isn’t diluted by more than half and that the recipe contains some salt (without salt, the vinegar struggles to penetrate the vegetables in a timely manner).

I hope that gives you a useful staring place! As always, drop a note in the comments if you have questions.

Hello friends! It has been a VERY long time since I’ve shown my face around these parts. But with the start of the new year, it is time to shake the dust off, pull my brain back together and get back to the business of canning and making connections with all of you. Enter the Community Canning Challenge!

Twice in the past, I’ve hosted year-long challenges in which I would present a series of monthly food preservation topics and we’d all work through them together. I’d like to do it again this year, with a bit of a twist. Instead of having just one monthly topic, I propose that we have two. The first will be similar to those we’ve done in the past, grounded in the art of food preservation. The second aspect of the challenge is designed push us to build out our in-person communities just a little bit each month.

You can try to do both topics each month, or you can opt to do just one (truly, you don’t have to do any of it, as it’s all voluntary. You can also just follow along if that’s what works for you). My hope is to create something that helps us all grow our skills and our networks of neighbors at the same time.

Here’s how it will work. We are going to use my Substack newsletter, the Food in Jars Facebook Community group, and this blog to run the Community Canning Challenge. This isn’t going to work if I overcomplicate it, so I want to use the tools of connection that I have already established, rather than trying to create something new. All challenge related posts on Substack will be entirely free to read and comment on, so you don’t need to be a paying subscriber to participate.

At the start of the month, I will be sharing a post here as well as on Substack, introducing the monthly challenge, rounding up some relevant recipes, and generally offering some ideas on how to accomplish one or both topics. A few days later, I will share one fresh and new recipe here on the blog. On the 15th of the month, there will be some check in posts on Substack and Facebook. And I’ll ask for your feedback around the 25th of the month.

I will be using Substack to report back on our collective experiences, as I’m trying to keep much of the non-recipe content off the blog for the sake of Google (this site is the primary way I make money these days and so I need to do what I can keep the bots happy and my paltry traffic flowing).

Let’s get to the topics. Just so you know, there are no rules here. If you want to join in, but the monthly topics don’t match up with your life or your seasons, feel free to shuffle things around to suit. The pleasure is in the doing.

If you think you want to participate this year, please use this form to indicate that you’re going to join in. Please also subscribe to the Substack or join the Food in Jars Community group on Facebook as those are the places where will be chatting about the challenge and hopefully forming connections that can translate into real life.

Because we’re already a week and a half into January, the timeline is a little compressed this month. I’ll have a January intro post up tomorrow and a recipe on Monday. I think this is going to be fun! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

Hello friends! I realize that it has been an absolute age (more than a year!) since I’ve posted anything new here. I have desperately missed sharing my canning practice with all of you, and while I can’t promise anything like my old regularity, I very much want to show up here more often. So let’s dig back in.

I’m kicking my triumphant return off with a recipe for the simplest, easiest three ingredient fig jam. I make this every year thanks to a dear friend who has a massive fig tree in her backyard. Every summer, I eagerly await the moment when she announces that the figs are ready. This season, she gave me more than ten pounds of fresh figs, plus a well-packed gallon bag of frozen figs for later.

I spend a couple days gorging myself on them fresh before I get down to the business of making jam. Once I’m ready to commit them to the canning pot, I portion them out into batches of approximately four pounds. The figs get washed, I trim away any woody stems, and then I cut them into quarters.

The quartered figs get placed in a large container, and then I add two pounds of sugar. If you are starting with a quantity other than four pounds of figs, just make sure to weigh your figs at the start. Then take that weight, divide it in half, and use that amount of sugar.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can also calculate this 2:1 ratio by volume. Just make sure to pack the chopped figs tightly into a measuring cup and then use half the volume of sugar.

Once the figs are quartered and the proper amount of sugar has been added, give the fruit a good stir to fully combine the sugar. Don’t be tentative, really work the figs and sugar together. We are going to give the figs additional bashing up during the cooking process, so you don’t need to worry about the fruit. Vigorous stirring is helpful here.

I like to let the figs and sugar macerate together in the fridge overnight, but this isn’t required. You can start cooking the jam as soon as the sugar is dissolved into the fruit.

When you are ready to cook, scrape the fruit and sugar mixture into a large, non-reactive pot. I like a low walled stainless steel soup pot, but enameled cast iron is also a really good option. Remember to stay away from reactive metals like aluminum and bare cast iron when making jam, as they can impart a metallic flavor into your jam.

At this point, you will also add your third and final ingredient. Lemon juice! Figs are relatively low in acid and home canned foods need to have a certain concentration of acid in order to be safe for boiling water bath canning. (You can read more about acid levels in home canning here.)

Typically, bottled lemon juice is used when we are using it to adjust the acidity of a product for safety. However, in the case of fig jam, I find that I prefer the flavor of fresh lemon juice. To account for any variation in the acid content of the fresh lemons, I use double the amount of lemon juice that is indicated by the National Center for Home Food Preservation in a similar recipe.

I use two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice per pound of figs and find that it gives the jam a really bright flavor without overriding the inherent figginess of the fruit.

Once all the ingredients are in the pan, we cook. Turn the heat up to high, get the fruit boiling, and then adjust the heat so that you maintain an active but controlled boil. Stay near the pot and stir every 2-3 minutes so that it doesn’t start sticking to the bottom of the pan. Because we don’t use any added pectin in this preserve, we depend on evaporation and the changing consistency of the sugar to achieve set. This means that you can’t be tentative with the boil.

The time you spend cooking will depend on the width of your pot, the heat of your stove, and how much water the figs contained at the start of cooking. I find that a batch typically takes 25-30 minutes of cooking once it has reached a boil, but it will vary. You will know that it is done when it starts feeling thicker as you stir. The color will go red and rosy. The pieces of fig will start to look a bit translucent. And the overall look will be very glossy.

When the jam is nearly done cooking, I like to run my spatula through the jam and hold it up over the pot. I watch the droplets as they fall and look for thick based, slow moving drops that stretch and are reluctant to leave the spatula. I find that when they meet that criteria, the jam is done.

Now, while the jam is cooking, I prepare a boiling water bath canner and select enough jars to hold about four pints of jam. A mix of pints, half pints, and quarter pints is fine. The processing time for all of those jars is the same. Please do remember that yields vary and you won’t hit this exact yield every time you make this jam. Sometimes you might get an extra quarter or half pint. Sometimes it will only yield three pints. This is the nature of jam and it’s best to adjust your expectations early.

Once the jam is finished cooking, funnel it into the prepared jars, leaving about 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of any sticky drips with a damp paper towel, and apply new lids and clean rings. Tighten the rings just until you feel them grip the jar. If you overtighten the rings, you run the risk of preventing the air from escaping during processing and the lids may buckle as a result.

Process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for ten minutes (making sure to adjust for your altitude if you live above 1,000 feet in elevation). When the time is up, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars sit in the cooling water for an additional five minutes. This adding cooling step is something Ball started recommending a handful of years ago to help prevent siphoning and improve the quality of the seal and it is a very effective trick.

Once the jars are done with their resting period, remove them from a canner and set them on a wooden cutting board or folded kitchen towel to cool completely. When jars are cool to the touch, check the seals. Sealed jars are shelf stable for at least a year and should be stored in a cool, dark place. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.

Like all fig jams, this one is excellent with cheese and cured meats. It’s also great in jam crumble bars, thumbprint cookies, rugelach, and hamantaschen.

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Three Ingredient Fig Jam for Canning

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Processing Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8 half pints

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 4 pounds fresh figs
• 2 pounds granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• Wash the figs. Cut away the woody stems and quarter them.
• Place the prepped figs in a large container and add the sugar. Stir to combine. Let the figs and sugar macerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. If opting for a longer rest period, place the container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• When you are ready to cook the jam, scrape the figs and sugar intoSp a low, wide, non-reactive pan. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine.
• Place the pan on the stove and set the burner to high. Bring the figs to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium high. You want to keep the figs cooking at a controlled boil. Stir every 2-3 minutes to prevent sticking.
• While the fig jam cooks, prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold approximately 4 pints of product. A combination of pints, half pints, and quarter pints is fine. Wash new lids and rings in good condition in hot, soapy water. Set aside to dry.
• The cooking time will vary for this jam, but I start looking for signs of set after it has boiled for 15 minutes, though it may need up to 30 minutes of cooking. You will know that it is done when it starts feeling thicker as you stir. The color will go red and rosy. The pieces of fig will start to look a bit translucent. And the overall look will be very glossy. I also like to hold my stirring spatula up over the pot and watch how the droplets cascade off of it. Drops of jam that are thick based and slow moving indicate jam that is reaching set.
• When you have determined that your jam is finished cooking, remove the pot from the heat. Funnel the finished jam into the prepared jars, leaving approximately 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean of any drips, and apply the lids and rings.
• Process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (starting timer once the water has returned to a boil and not before). When processing time is up, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars cool in the water for five minutes.
• When that time is up, remove jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool.

  When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.

This post is sponsored by Mrs. Wages.

For years and years, there have been a subset of people who have written to ask me about making jam with sugar substitutes. I tried a handful of times with stevia and monkfruit, but I never liked the results enough to share them here. But the folks from Mrs. Wages recently sent me a box of mixes and pectins that included a couple packets of their Sugar Free Fruit Pectin Home Jell and I was inspired to try again.

This time, I tried it with the non-sugar sweetener Swerve and found that in combination with ripe peaches, a little apple juice, bottled lemon juice, some spices, and the sugar free pectin, produced a really balanced and beautifully set sugar free peach jam.

With any peach jam, I started by peeling peaches (four pounds, to be precise). I cut them in half, removed the pits and arranged them cut side down on a deep baking sheet. Then I poured water from a freshly boiled tea kettle over the peaches and let them sit for two minutes. When the time was up, I carefully drained away the hot water and ran cool tap water over the peaches. The peels (mostly) slide right off.

Once the peaches were peeled, I slid them into an 8 quart Dutch oven and used a potato masher to break them into small bits. I added 1 cup of apple juice, 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice, and one packet Mrs. Wages Sugar Free Fruit Pectin Home Jell and let it sit for ten minutes.

Normally, when you add sugar to fruit, it draws out the liquid and helps to prevent burning. But sugar-free sweeteners don’t have the same effect and what’s more, you don’t want to boil them for long, as that can render them bitter. So the juice is a critical element in getting a sufficiently cooked peach consistency. I made a couple of really unsatisfying batches before I figured out this trick.

Once the fruit had a chance to sit and mellow with the pectin, I set the pot on the stove and brought it up to a hard boil. As it worked its way up to a boil, I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.

When it reached a hard boil, I set a timer for 1 minute and removed the pot from the heat the moment the time was up (the Mrs. Wages instructions stress the importance of not overcooking the pectin, as that could hinder its ability to set).

Finally, with the pot off the stove, I stirred in 1 1/4 cups Swerve (though you can obviously use your non-sugar sweetener of choice). Then, it was just a matter of funneling the jam into hot pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply new lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude if you live above 1,000 feet in elevation).

After the processing time is up, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars rest in the cooling water for five minutes. Then remove the jars and set them to cool on a folded kitchen towel or wooden board. Let them sit until they are completely cool and then check seals. Sealed jars can be stored in your pantry, any with failed seals should be refrigerated and used promptly.

Troubleshooting Sugar Free Jam

Don’t worry if you notice that the jam looks a little runny when it first comes out of the canner. Mine took a full day to reach set. Also, remember that sugar-free jams spoil more quickly than those with traditional portions of sugar. If a pint jar is too much for your household to use within a couple of weeks, consider using half pint or even 4 ounce jars. That way, you’ll be able to eat through the jar before it starts to get moldy.

I am delighted to have found a way to make a satisfying and delicious sugar-free jam. I hope you like it just as much as I do!

More Peach Preserves

Classic peach jam
Peach cardamom jam
Spicy peach preserves
Low sugar spiced peach jam
Peach vanilla drizzle
Slow cooker peach vanilla butter
Sweet cherry and yellow peach preserves
Brown sugar peach jam with salt and bourbon
Honey sweetened peach jam
Honey sweetened gingery peach butter
Honey sweetened peach vanilla jam
Date sweetened peach drizzle

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Mrs. Wages. They provided product and financial compensation. All opinions remain my own.

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Sugar Free Peach Jam

A summery, spreadable jam sweetened with apple juice and Swerve

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Processing Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 pints

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 4 pounds peaches, peeled and mashed
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
• 1 packet Mrs. Wages Sugar Free Fruit Pectin Home Jell
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups Swerve, or other non-sugar sweetener

Instructions

• Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 4 pints of product.
• Place peeled and mashed peaches in a large, non-reactive pot. Add the apple juice, bottled lemon juice, and Mrs. Wages Sugar Free Fruit Pectin Home Jell. Stir to combine.
• Let the fruit rest for ten minutes.
• Place the pot on the stove and bring to a hard boil. Add cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg as the fruit is working its way to a boil. Once it is bubbling vigorously, set a time for 1 minute.
• Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the non-sugar sweetener that you're using.
• Remove a jar from your canner. Funnel the jam into the jar, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rim, apply a new lid and ring, and return the jar to the canner. Repeat with remaining jars and jam.
• Process the full jars for 10 minutes (setting timer once the pot has returned to a rolling boil). When time is up, remove lid and turn off the heat. Let the jars stand in the cooling water for five minutes.
• Remove jars from canner and set them to cool on a folded kitchen towel or wooden board.
• When jars are completely cool, check seals. Sealed jars are shelf stable for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.

I get a lot of emails every summer (particularly during peach season) from people who have canned fruit for the first time and they’re wondering if their sealed jars are safe to be tucked away on the shelf. The reason they’re worried? The finished jars are sticky on the outside.

Friends, this is an entirely normal thing to experience when canning fruit in liquid like syrup, juice, or water. Raw or lightly cooked fruit flesh contains air. During the canning process, that air escapes from the fruit and pushes its way out of the jar (this is why we only tighten the canning rings to finger tip tight, that air needs to be able to exit the jar). This is normal.

Often, as the air leaves the jars, it pushes a little bit of the liquid that was in the jar out. This process of escaping air pushing liquid out can continue after the jars are removed from the canner (it is known as siphoning in the canning world). That sticky residue is the result of the liquid loss.

If your jars are sticky but the seals are good, there is nothing to worry about. Once the jars are completely cool, remove the rings and gently wash the sealed jars in warm, soapy water. Let them air dry and store in a cool, dark place.

If your jars are sealed, but have lost a lot of liquid, they are still good, but they aren’t going to hold their quality as long as those that still have their full complement of liquid. Make a point of using the jars with the depleted liquid first. If you notice that the top piece of fruit is discolored because it is not fully submerged, don’t worry. Just discard any with color or texture loss due to exposure and eat the remainder.

How to prevent liquid loss and sticky jars

Here are some things you can do to avoid getting into a sticky situation next time!

Consider making a hot packed preserve rather than a cold packed one. Cold packing means that you peel your peaches, layer them in jars, and then cover them with syrup. This creates a situation in which you are more prone to have liquid loss.

Instead, peel your peaches and drop them into hot syrup (or whatever liquid you are using as your canning medium). Then funnel the hot peaches into jars and cover with hot liquid. The short time the fruit spends in the liquid helps remove some of the air from the fruit flesh and makes for a jar that is less likely to siphon. This technique also allows you to get a bit more into each jar, which is very satisfying.

These Gingery Pickled Peaches are a great example of a hot packed peach.

Another thing you can do is let the jars rest in the canning pot for 5-10 minutes after the canning process is done. Rapid temperature change is one of the things that triggers liquid loss. Once your timer goes off, turn off the heat (if you have an electric stove, consider sliding the pot off the hot burner), remove the lid from the canning pot, and just let the jars cool down more slowly. After the time is up, pull one jar out. If it is still leaking liquid, return it to the pot and set another 5 minute timer.

Rest assured, even if your jars are sticky, you still have something delicious and safe to enjoy.

Hello friends! Goodness, it sure has been a long time, hasn’t it. Between the pandemic, parenting, and burnout from all those sponsored posts last year, I forgot how to show up here. But after a little break, and the blessed addition of a regular babysitter, I’m finding myself itching to reclaim my identity and role as a canning blogger/writer/teacher. I knew it was time to get back to work when I started composing blog posts and recipe headnotes in my dreams.

Part of my motivation in returning to this space is that I’m seeing a big uptick in people looking to learn how to can. And I get that. Food prices are out of control and the state of the world feels precarious. Folks often turn to food preservation as a way of managing costs and creating a sense of security when things are desperately uncertain. I want to be here as a resource to help people can safely and deliciously.

I’m also getting my (entirely free!) newsletter going again. It will go out on a monthly basis with reminders of seasonal recipes from the archives, as well as new-to-you bonus recipes. The first one goes out this Wednesday, so if make sure to subscribe if you want my small batch recipe for Peach Rosemary Jam.

We are smack in the midst of strawberry season here in the Philadelphia region. I picked up a flat on Saturday and the boys and I (they are nearly three years old!) met some friends out in Bucks County yesterday for a round of picking. I am still trying to find my way back to the blog after a quiet winter and spring, so while I dust off my rusty recipe development skills, I thought it would be nice to share this recipe for strawberry hibiscus butter that I wrote for a 2018 issue of Taproot Magazine.

Strawberries are an essential ingredient in any preserver’s kitchen and I love working with them. The one downside is that if you want to make a lower sugar jam or butter with strawberries, the finished product often fades in color after a couple months on the shelf. I have found dried hibiscus blooms can help boost the color with their natural hue and bring they also bring a welcome tang to the finished flavor (they are high in an array of acidic compounds).

To make this recipe, you clean, hull, and quarter four pounds of berries. Once they are ready, you add two cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of dried hibiscus blossoms that you’ve tucked into a large teaball or bundled into a length of cheesecloth. Let the berries macerate at room temperature for an hour and then place the pot on the stove to cook.

Bring the berries to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, until the fruit is tender and quite reduced. When making jams, I typically advise a hot and fast cooking approach, but because the intended outcome here is essentially a thickened puree, this method works best.

Once the berries are completely tender and the volume of liquid is greatly reduced, remove the pot from the heat and puree with an immersion blender. Funnel into clean, hot jars and process (make sure to adjust the processing time if you live above 1,000 feet in elevation).

I like this preserve for kid peanut butter sandwiches, because it’s not super sugary. It’s also a good one for filling thumbprint cookies or using as a filling in a rolled bun.

Questions about Strawberry Hibiscus Butter

Can I freeze this butter instead of canning it? Sure! Just make sure to use straight sided glass jars or clean plastic containers, and leave plenty of headspace to account for expansion.

Can I use a different sweetener in this recipe? This recipe would work well with either honey or maple syrup (use in the same volume as the sugar). I don’t recommend using an artificial sweetener like Splenda or monk fruit, as they will become bitter during the long cooking time.

Can I make this with frozen berries? Yes! Place in the pot frozen and cover with the sugar. Let the sugared berries defrost completely and then proceed.

Looking for more strawberry butters? Try Strawberry Rhubarb Butter, Strawberry Maple Butter, or Strawberry Honey Butter.

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Strawberry Hibiscus Butter

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Processing Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Servings 3 pints

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 4 pounds strawberries
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dried hibiscus blossoms

Instructions

• Wash the berries, remove the hulls and cut them into quarters. Heap the chopped berries in a large, non-reactive pot and add the sugar. Stir to combine.
• Bundle the hibiscus blossoms in a length of cheesecloth or a large tea ball and nestle it in with the berries. Let the berries macerate at room temperature for an hour, until they are quite juicy.
• Place the pot on the stove and bring the contents to a boil over high heat. Reduce the temperature to medium and simmer the strawberries uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes. They are done when the berries are very tender and the liquid has thickened.
• While the berries cook, prepare a boiling water bath canner and three pint jars (six half pints are also acceptable). Wash new lids in warm, soaping water and set aside.
• Remove the pot from the heat, remove hibiscus ball/bundle, and puree the cooked berries with an immersion blender.
• Funnel the finished butter into the prepared canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
• When the time is up, remove the lid from the pot and turn off the heat. Let the jars rest in the cooling water for five minutes. When that time is up, remove jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool.
• When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.

This post is sponsored by the makers of Ball® home canning products.*

Between fertility treatments, being pregnant, and time spent nursing, it’s been over than four years since I’ve had more than a tiny sip of alcohol. In that time, I have developed a deep appreciation for syrups, shrubs, and other flavorful mixers that can bring easy interest to a glass of sparkling water.

When my friends at @ballcanning asked me to come up with something festive for the holiday season, my thoughts immediately landed on sharing my favorite mulled apple cider syrup. Combined with sparkling water and served in a Ball® Flute Pint Jar, it is fun, refreshing, and decidedly celebratory.

Combine a half gallon of fresh apple cider in wide pot. Add some mulling spices. I used cloves, star anise, allspice berries, and cinnamon, contained in a tea ball for easy removal. Then bring it to a boil. You want to stay close as it comes up to a simmer, in order to skim the foam that will build on the surface. Once you’ve removed the foam, allow the cider to boil down for 45 to 60 minutes. You want the cider to reduce until you have about 12 ounces.

When it has reduced sufficiently, let it cool in the pot until room temperature. Once cool, pour into a Ball® Snowflake Keepsake Pint Jars, cap with a Ball® Leakproof Storage Lid, and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.

When you’re ready to build your drink, gather the syrup, a Ball® Flute Jar, and some chilled fizzy water. Fill the jar three-quarters the way with sparkling water. Add a healthy dollop of apple cider syrup and a generous spoonful of pickled cranberries with their liquid. Stir to combine and add more sparkling water to fill the jar (you don’t want to add it all at the beginning because it will certainly bubble over while you’re mixing).

Here’s to fun, alcohol free drinks! I hope you all have a very happy new year!

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Mulled Apple Cider Syrup

Total Time 1 hour hour

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon fresh apple cider
• 1 piece star anise
• 1 piece cinnamon stick, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

Instructions

• Pour the apple cider into a large pot that has ample room for boiling.
• Bundle the spices into a tea ball or a length of cheesecloth and add it to the pot.
• Place the pot on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. When foam begins to form on the top of the cider, skim it off with a large spoon.
• Continue to boil until the juice has reduced to just 1 1/2 to 2 cups. This will take about an hour.
• Let the syrup cool in the pot and then funnel into a jar and refrigerate.
• The finished syrup will keep 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post that is part of an ongoing partnership with the Fresh Preserving Division of Newell Brands. They have provided jars, equipment and monetary compensation. All thoughts and opinions expressed remain my own.

This post is sponsored by the makers of Ball® home canning products.*

My list of to-make holiday treats is ever evolving. Every year, I start baking thinking that I know exactly what I’m going to make. And then I spot a new recipe and am overcome with the urge to try it out. This is doubly true if said treat can be gifted in a festive Ball® Snowflake Keepsake Jar. You all know how I feel about jars!

Last year, at the very moment when I thought my making was done, my Instagram friend Heather shared her recipe for spiced nuts. Suddenly, I was not done. I had to make those nuts.

Friends. They were so easy and turned out incredibly well. Everyone I shared them with came back with raves. My mom was a big fan (she liked to add them to salads) and they are now on the yearly holiday list.

I did tweak Heather’s recipe slightly. I changed one of the spices, use slightly less sugar, and combine both pecans and walnuts in my mix (she uses just pecans). It’s a flexible and forgiving recipe, so I am certain every one of you could make similar small changes and still have happy outcomes.

You start by whisking together two egg whites with two tablespoons of water. Add the nuts and stir to coat. Pour the nuts into a colander so the excess liquid can drain away and let them drip for a little while. Once the excess has drained away, whisk the sugar, salt, and spices together in a large bowl. Add the nuts and toss to coat.

Divide the nuts between two parchment lined baking sheets and roast for 35-40 minutes at 300°F. Rotate the sheets at least once during baking.

Once the nuts are done, let them cool fully on the baking sheets before breaking them apart. Portion them into Ball® Snowflake Keepsake Pint Jars and add them to your gift bags and baskets. They keep at room temperature for 3-4 weeks and longer if you store them in the fridge or freezer.

I’m not typically someone who goes big on jar wrapping or decorations (I like to put my effort into the contents of the jars), but I will occasionally pull out the curling ribbon. A couple of colors tied around the neck of the jar and curled does make it feel more festive and celebratory.

What treats did you make this holiday season? I’d love to hear!

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Spiced Nuts

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Author Marisa McClellan

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 pounds raw pecans or walnuts, (or a combination of both)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon cardamom

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites, water, and salt together. Add nuts and toss to coat.
• Pour the nuts into a colander and let them drain for 10 minutes or so.
• Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. Combine the sugar mixture with the nuts and stir until well coated.
• Divide the nuts between the two prepared baking sheets. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the sheets at least once during baking.
• When the time is up, remove the nuts from the oven and let them cool fully. Once they are completely cool, break them into pieces and store in glass jars.

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post that is part of an ongoing partnership with the Fresh Preserving Division of Newell Brands. They have provided jars, equipment and monetary compensation. All thoughts and opinions expressed remain my own.

This post is sponsored by the makers of Ball® home canning products.*

The week before Scott and I got married, my dad cut a hole in my kitchen wall and built a massive spice shelf into the space he carved out. As soon as he put the final shelf into place, I filled up those shelves with jars of spices and never looked back.

That was a little over 12 years ago now. I’m embarrassed to admit that in the intervening years, I’ve never taken everything down, purged spices, and thoroughly cleaned the shelves. I’ve spot cleaned on an as-needed basis, but it was just never a priority. However, lately I’ve been trying to tackle these small projects. It gives me a sense of accomplishment in season of life where there’s not a whole lot of that.

I started by pulling every jar, tin, and bag down so that I could see what I had. Once the shelves were empty, I took the boards down and scrubbed them in the sink. I wanted the cleanest slate I could get.

I discovered that I had three jars of oregano, another three of turmeric, and two of ground nutmeg (which is particularly weird, since I typically use freshly grated). Once I purged and grouped the various spices, I started decanting and consolidating. I used more than a dozen Ball® Mini Storage Jars for my smaller quantity spices. They hold 4 ounces and look like mini pint jars. They aren’t safe for canning, but they do a great job of keeping herbs and spices neatly contained and easily to hand.

I keep some spices in larger quantities than fit into those cute Ball® Mini Storage Jars, and so I also used a some Ball® Smooth Sided Pint Jars and a handful of Ball® Wide Mouth Quarts. I love how uniform everything looks. It’s a big step up from my previous hodgepodge of jars, boxes, and tins.

Having my spices cleaned, sorted, and organized feels amazing. I feel like holiday cooking and baking will be much more pleasant and satisfying this year than it would have been otherwise.

Do you have a cleaning project that leaves you with a similar sense of satisfaction? I’ve love to hear about it!

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post that is part of an ongoing partnership with the Fresh Preserving Division of Newell Brands. They have provided jars, equipment and monetary compensation. All thoughts and opinions expressed remain my own.