Preserving the Summer with Homemade Preserves & Jams

Homemade Preserves & Jams (click on cover to buy)
Over 90 Recipes for Luscious Jams, Tangy Marmalades, Crunchy Chutneys, and More
by Mary Tregellas
$24.99/$28.99 Can.
192 pages, trade paperback with French flaps

One of my favorite things to do in August is visit the farmers market to pick up and sample the fresh fruits. The only problem is, I get so excited at the sight of all that abundant fruit that I oftentimes overload my shopping bag with too much, and then I can’t manage to eat it all before it spoils.

Our new book, Homemade Preserves & Jams takes care of this dilemma. It contains over 90 recipes for sweet and savory jams, preserves, marmalades, jellies, curds, chutneys, and so much more! Plus there are extra recipes that allow you to incorporate the jams into your cooking. Now, when I have a basket full of overripe apricots, I know what to do. Make apricot jam!

Apricot Jam

I’ve never made jam or jelly before, so I was pleased to find that the steps are surprisingly easy and don’t require lots of specialized equipment. All you really need is a pan, a wooden spoon, and some jars. If you want to get fancy: a scale, jam thermometer, and a funnel are helpful, too. And the jam recipes involve only about 3 or 4 steps. It’s really quite simple!

Using a jam funnel to pot herb jelly

My favorite part of the book are the main dishes and the tons of suggestions for meals that you can incorporate your jams and jellies into. For example, now’s the perfect time of year to whip up a jar of Lemon Curd, then use it as part of a batch of delicious Lemon Meringue Tarts.

Lemon Curd

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Or, everyone’s familiar with the age-old problem of having a bunch of overripe bananas. But instead of making the standard banana bread, why not make some banana jam and use it as a topping for waffles or pancakes for a tasty breakfast treat? Also, the back of the book contains an array of recipes for breads, rolls, muffins, and scones for slathering your jams, jellies, and chutneys on.

Banana Jam and clotted cream on a belgian waffle

And if sweet isn’t your thing, then no worries, there’s a plethora of savory recipes, too: Tomato Chutney, Carmelized Onion Marmalade, Tomato and Zucchini Chutney, and more.

Tante Betty’s Zucchini Pickles

The book is filled with seasonal jam recipes that you can make all year round. So I know that I’m going to reference it again and again for inspiration throughout the year, and definitely for those times that I go a little overboard on a fruit-buying spree at the market!

Seville Orange Marmalade

Pear and Ginger Jam