kitchen adventures
Apricots are one of my favorite fruits, and they’re hard to come by here in SE Michigan. I haunt farmers markets, looking for a grower, and when I find one, I tend to grab some apricots. I always make a little jam: begin with just a bit of fruit, get
When you have just a bit of fruit that you can’t use right away, don’t let it spoil: make it into a little batch of jam. This small-batch cherry apricot jam took me less than an hour from start to finish. Cherries and apricots just go together; this jam is a
I am often asked how to make jam, and is making jam hard? People tend to assume it takes a lot of time; that every batch is unmanageably huge; that it’s scary and uses weird equipment. All this is so, so wrong. You can make jam in a skillet or saucepan
I make applesauce every year; it’s easy and tastes wonderful. It serves as the basis for apple butter, which I make in a slow cooker, which make it easy, and scorch-proof. This year I tried the same trick with pears. Wow, pear butter is great! I made a version that
2013 has not been a good year for tomatoes in Michigan. First it was wet and cold, and then way too hot, and now, in September, we seem headed for an early frost. Our tomato season has been the shortest one I can recall. Even in a scant year, I
When you don’t have much fruit – or don’t have much time – try a small batch. Don’t double this one, it’s perfect just as it is. Goes together easily. The peaches stand with the sugar while you get the jars ready, and then the jam is finished, and canned,
Strawberry Apricot Jam makes about 8 8-oz jars 2 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered 2 lb apricots, pitted and cut in chunks 3 Tbsp lemon juice 4 c sugar 1/4 c apricot brandy (optional) 1/2 tsp unsalted butter Sterilize canning jars and get your canning set-up ready — you’ll need to
I was lucky enough to find about 5 pints of freshly picked black raspberries at a local farm market. Naturally I scooped them right up, and brought them home to make one of the best jams I tried last summer. This is inspired by Marisa at Food in Jars, whose
More inspiration from Marisa at Food in Jars is this black raspberry jam. As she suggests, this jam uses a bit of commercial pectin, because black-raspberries would otherwise give a very loose set. Makes about 6 half-pints. 8 c black raspberries, about 2 quarts of berries 3 c sugar (much less than
This year, I’m offering a small class on old-fashioned no-pectin-added Strawberry Jam. I make jam the traditional way, in small batches, and put it up in glass jars sealed in a waterbath. If you are interested in a such a class in Oakland County Michigan, do send a reply ASAP,
Every June while I was growing up, I used to make sliced strawberry jam with my mum. She was a working woman, so it was a process we split into two parts: in the evening, washing and prepping the berries; early the next morning, cooking the jam and sealing the
I’m Maurita Plouff, and I write about cooking and preserving the local harvest in Southeast Michigan. Any recipe you find here is something I have cooked myself, and enjoyed, and think you might like too. I invite you to try the recipes, and leave comments.