Foodista is celebrating the bounty of fruits and vegetables this summer with a month devoted to canning. We hope you discover (and contribute!) some delicious recipes to “put up”! Check out our Can-tastic canning page for inspiring recipes. We’d love to see some of yours!

Here’s to a Can-tastic summer!

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Right now our farmer’s market is a virtual cornucopia of fresh delights. The smell of just-off-the-vine tomatoes and huge bunches of basil sitting in the sun was beautifully overwhelming! Perfect fava beans  laying in heaps, squashes of all shapes and sizes, potato “marbles” no bigger than the tip of your pinky finger, and Rainier cherries as big as your head (okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but they were the largest I’ve ever seen).

We were there on a mission: to stock up on cherries and apricots for our canning party the following day. But it was oh so hard to stay focused! Everything looked so divine! Did I mention those tomatoes!?

We stuck to our rule: only two foods were going to be canned in one day and we had collectively chosen cherries and apricots. We bought a case of Bing cherries, about a half case of a mix of cherry varieties, and a case of apricots. Buying in bulk got us some big discounts too.

We arrived at Tracy’s house on Sunday rearing to begin. We pitted all the cherries (now there’s a job!), sterilized all the jars, and started our first recipe: Cherries in Wine. This is such a simple recipe and the result is excellent with both sweet and savory dishes (think roasted duck breast with a nice cherry in wine sauce). Recipe:

While the cherries were processing we moved on to the apricots. We cold packed them (canned them fresh rather than stewing first) and each of us “personalized” our simple syrup. We added lavender to some jars, star anise to others, vanilla bean, hibiscus, and even a version with white pepper corns, mustard seed and coriander. It may sound strange, but I guarantee it’s a scrumptious combination. And come winter, what a wonderful variety of flavors we’ll have!

Next weekend: peaches and tomatoes.

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When my mom used to make homemade strawberry jam and give it to people- you’d swear they had just been given a jar of diamonds; “Oh this is wonderful!” “Thank you so much! I can’t wait!” When I was younger, I never really got it, it’s just jam. It wasn’t some fun toy or a trip to the park; these people were being given homemade jam, Yawn. Now that I am older the thought of someone giving me homemade jam, banana bread, pickles or slow-cooked peach sauce is a true gift. Not only do these delicious edible gifts taste better when they are homemade, someone spent time making me something from scratch and time in my eyes may just be the most valuable gift anyone can give.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but canning is cool again. Maybe it never was un-cool, maybe I’m just realizing how fun, rewarding and delicious creating sweet raspberry jam or vinegary pickles can be. And I’m definitely not alone. Perhaps it’s the recession, perhaps it’s this jump in homemaking interests that my generation is hankering for. Whereas the microwave generation prior, often wanted more time for careers and less time in the kitchen. Making slow sauces, cupcakes from scratch, learning to garden and making pickles all by myself?! That’s waayy cool.

Photo by Ocadotony

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As much as we’d love to spend the afternoons canning, pickling, storing, and preserving, we don’t always have the time to do so, do we? Then comes the moment when you long for that homemade raspberry jam and you say to yourself, “Self, why didn’t I just buck up and make jam that afternoon?”

Don’t beat yourself. You can still make that delicious jam and not spend all afternoon doing it. Two words for you: freezer jam.

Raspberry Freezer Jam

1 3/4 c. crushed raspberries
4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 bottle Certo

Measure fruit and sugar into a large bowl. Mix well. Let set 10 minutes to macerate.

Combine 3/4 cup water and Sure-Jell into small pan. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add to fruit mixture and stir for approximately 3 minutes. Put into jars or plastic containers. Cover. Let set at room temperature for 24 hours, then freeze.

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