ABOUT
IT STARTED WITH JAM
It was a holiday in the south of France, and my friend served up some of her cherry jam made from fruits of the big cherry tree in her garden. The jam was so delicious that I immediately asked for the recipe. Then,being able to buy a load of cherries, I got on trying to make the my own cherry jam. It was messy and would not win awards, but it was so wonderful – in taste and because I made it myself, and always reminds of that special holiday.
Since then cherry jam has become one of my regular summer jams to make. Whether with fresh or frozen fruits, I just have to make some!
Making jam then became making chutneys, pickles, drinks, etc. I am glad to have discovered preserving and enjoy the process and experimentation, and the eating, of course!
ABOUT THIS SITE
Preserving is one of those avenues of cookery I think many people are frightened of trying, as I once was. But making homemade jam, for example, is surprisingly simple — and the results will blow any store-bought jar out of the water.
You don’t have to have some born-with wisdom and old-fashioned skills to do this kind of thing. Follow a few basic rules, with a good recipe and you can create something special.
You also don’t need to go into full-on commercial production mode either. You can just make small batches of jam with whatever fruit you like, or that needs using up, or transforming from not-so-good into a tasty morsel.
This site is not aimed at those super-skilled people who choose to preserve the widest range of food with the primary aim of ensuring food security for themselves and their families. Nor is it directed at the people who grow huge amount of fruits and vegetables, and need store them or to make preserves to sell. If visitors from either of these groups do find something useful from visiting my website, you a very welcome! I don’t know about this way and scale of making preserves, but I will be glad to learn of your expert tips
This site is for those of you who maybe have not attempted to make preserves before, or have tried and would like to develop more confidence to make some more. It’s about learning and adapting old and new preserving skills so that you can use them, and benefit from them, in our modern suburban world. This was how I got to know about it, so I thought it worth sharing my learning about preserves and recipes, tips and thoughts about creating here. The slower, more considered process can give you more than just a jar of something tasty.
If you’ve never attempted making preserves before hopefully, this will give you the courage to give it a go.
