Blueberry Jam

 When I saw the beautiful box of local organic blueberries, I knew I just had to bring them home with me…to my kitchen… to make delicious blueberry jam!  They did not disappoint.  This recipe is from Marisa McClellan- I highly recommend her recipes.

To make 6 x 250ml jars

Ingredients

6 cups        smashed blueberries (you’ll need 8-10 cups of unsquashed berries to get the 6 cups of smashed)

4 cups        sugar

3 tbsp        pectin powder (classic)

Zest and juice of one lemon

1 tsp        cinnamon

1/2 tsp    grated nutmeg

Directions

Pour the smashed blueberries into a low, wide, non-reactive pot.  Measure out the sugar and whisk in the powdered pectin.  Add them to the fruit and stir to combine.

Once the sugar is almost all dissolved, place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Cook at a controlled boil for 10-15 minutes, until the fruit begins to look thick and any foam is beginning to subside.

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice and let jam continue to cook until it reaches 220 degrees on an instant read thermometer.  

Remove the jam from the heat and funnel into prepared jars.  Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a steam canner (or boiling water bath canner) for 10 minutes.  When the time is up, carefully remove the lid from the steam canner and let the jars sit in the canner for about 10 minutes.  

Mint Jelly

 Ahhh! Fresh mint, the gift that keeps on giving everywhere in the garden.  It’s persistent… What better way to curb it than turning it into mint jelly.  Fresh mint jelly, perfect for gift giving or serving with your favourite lamb roast.  

The last time in tried buying it in a store, the only jar of “mint” jelly contained no mint, just “flavouring”,  Go figure.  Once you try this mint jelly, you will never want to be without it.  Thanks to Canadian Living for this recipe.

To make approximately 5 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

2 cups  lightly packed fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1 pkg    Powdered fruit pectin

4 cups   Sugar

Directions

In a saucepan, combine mint with 3 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, gently mashing with a wooden spoon.  Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour the mint mixture into a damp jelly bag suspended over a large glass measuring bowl.  Let drip without squeezing the bag, until the mint infusion measures 3 cups, about 2 hours.

In a large pot, stir together the mint infusions, vinegar and pectin.  Bring to boil over high heat, stirring often.  Gradually stir in the sugar, return to full rolling boil over high heat, stirring often.  Boil hard, stirring constantly for one minute,

Remove from heat.  Stir and skim off any foam for 5 minutes.  Fill hot 250 ml jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe the jar rims clean, place clean lids on the jars and tighten.  Place in a steam canner for 10 minutes (when the dial reached the green line).  Remove the lid carefully, leave the jars in the uncovered canner for another five minutes.

I AM PLAYING:  I had a few extra ingredients in the kitchen: candied lemon peel, a fresh lime and a hot pepper.  Oh a bottle of tequila flavoured with hyacinth and grapefruit. So, added the candied peel from a whole lemon, thinly sliced lime and hot pepper. These were added after the final boil.   The tequila was added to make the mint infusion come to 3 1/2 cups at the same time as the vinegar a pectin. 

Triple Fruit Jelly

 What to do with a couple of pounds of gorgeous red currents and sun ripened sour cherries, expertly grown by my neighbour, just steps from my house?  I decided to add strawberries and make a triple fruit jelly.  

This recipe is loosely based on a Four Fruit Jelly provided by French Master Preserver, Ginette Mathieu in her book “Conserving, Salting, Smoking, Pickling.

Makes 9 250 ml jars

Ingredients

1 3/4 lbs    red currants, stemmed and rinsed

1 3/4 lbs    Sour cherries, stemmed and rinsed

1 3/4 lbs    Strawberries, hulled and rinsed

1 tbsp        bottled lemon juice

7 cups        Sugar

57gr        Certo fruit crystals

Directions

Place all the fruit in the top compartment of the steamer juicer.  Steam for approximately one hour- this should provide you with about 7 cups of juice.  I don’t press on the fruit while they steam to keep the juice as clear as possible.  Alternatively, you could place all the fruit in a saucepan, add one cup of water and bring to a boil.  When the fruit has softened (about 5 minutes), remove from heat and place in a jelly bag to hang over a large bowl to collect the juices.

Place the fruit juice in a large preserving pan, along with the lemon juice and certo.  Bring to a boil and add the sugar gradually while stirring often.  When it reaches a full boil, begin using your instant read thermometer - the gel point is reached at 220 degrees.  Or, you can place a few small plates in the freezer and place a spoonful of the hot jelly on it to test for doneness- it should gel.  Keep testing until it is ready.

Ladle into 250 ml jars, clean the rims and top with the two piece lids.  Place the filled jars into the steam canner and steam for 10 minutes once the dial reached the “green” zone.  At the ten minute mark, remove the lid carefully to avoid burning yourself, turn off the heat and let the jars rest in the canner for five minutes.  Remove from the canner and let sit until the jars are cooled.

Strawberry Honey Butter

 Time to begin canning season 2025.  First up is an amazing strawberry honey butter from the Ball Canning book.  The ingredients are all local, within minutes of home: Strawberries are grown at Kiwan Farms and the honey is from the Henri Dignard Farm in Embrun, just a short distance from Ottawa. 

This butter is sweetened with 3/4 cup of honey and the same amount of sugar.  It’s perfect on biscuits or breads…

Makes approximately 3 250ml jars.

Ingredients

3 lbs         washed and hulled ripe strawberries

3/4 cup     Honey

3/4 cup     Sugar

1 tbsp       Lemon juice

2 tsp         Vanilla

1/4 tsp      Salt

Directions

Purée strawberries in the bowl of a food processor.  Combine strawberry purée with the remaining ingredients in a deep pot set over medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil stirring frequently to prevent scorching.  Lower the heat and simmer until the mixture is very thick, about 60 - 90 minutes, stirring frequently.  The strawberry butter is ready when it holds its shape on a spoon.

Ladle the hot butter into hot clean jars, leaving a 1/3 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles, wipe the jar rims and place the lid on the jars.  Place jars in the steam canner and process for 10 minutes.  At the end of the 10 minutes, carefully remove the lid on the pot, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for about 5-10 minutes.

** I made two batches instead of doubling this recipe.  If you double, you risk over cooking the strawberry purée.  

Enjoy!

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Red Currant Jelly

This jelly is pure gold- hand picked from my garden and canned within the hour!  Perfect… well, almost.  This week I tried out a couple of recipes.  The first batch resulted in a soft gel, perfect for a syrup on pancakes or waffles, a baste on a pork roast, the finishing touch to a fruit pie.  The second batch came out as a more “solid” jelly and that’s the one I will go with.

This is a recipe from Cathy Barrow’s Mrs Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry, one of my go-to canning books.

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Red currants are blessed with lots of natural pectin so you should only need to add sugar and lemon juice to the mix.

For approximately  5 x 250 ml jars

Ingredients:

2 lbs           red currants 

1/2 cup       water

2 1/2 cups  granulated sugar

1 tbsp         lemon juice

Directions

Gently rinse the berries and ensure the stems are plucked from the berries.  Add the berries and 1/2 cup of water to a 3 QT pan.  Bring to a boil, then mash the currants with a potato masher to release some of the juices.  Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes.

Ladle the fruit into a jelly bag or cheesecloth lined colander and set over a catch bowl.  Let drip for four hours.  Do not squeeze the bag or your jelly will be cloudy.  Cloudy is fine if you favour flavour over a clear jelly.

**Alternatively, you can use a steam juicer which is a time saver and provides you with a very clear juice.  Set the red currants, stems and all, on the top part of the juicer.  Fill the bottom with water and bring to a light boil.  Monitor the water to ensure it does not run dry.  You should get about four cups of juice.

Measure the juice and measure out an equal amount of sugar.  Pour the juice into the preserving pan and bring to a strong boil.  Add the sugar and lemon juice, start stirring.  Keep stirring while it gets to a boil that cannot be stirred down and boil hard for five minutes.  Turn down the heat and continue to stir.  The jelly should begin to gel slightly.  The temperature should read 220 degrees about this time.  If not, keep heating until it reaches 220 degrees.

Ladle the jelly into the warm jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims of the jars.  Place the lids and rings on the jars.  Process in a steamer canner (or water bath canner) for ten minutes.

(Updated July 4, 2025)

Strawberry Chutney

 I couldn’t pass up that specially low priced basket of strawberries.  But what to prepare?  This year, 2023, I’ve been exploring chutneys so, Strawberry Chutney is what I made.  This is a little out of my wheelhouse but I am looking forward to tasting, after it sits for about a month or so.

To make about 8 250ml jars.

Ingredients

4 lbs.       Strawberries, hulled and diced

2 cups.    Onions, about one large, minced

2 cups.   Light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups. Golden raisins

1.           Lemon, seeded and chopped

3 tbsps.  Yellow mustard seeds

1 tbsp.    Kosher salt

2 tsps     red pepper flakes

2             Star anise

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, stir to combine, and bring to a vigorous boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has reduced and developed a thick, spreadable consistency, about 50-60 minutes.

When the chutney is finished cooking, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the star anise from the mixture before ladling into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings and process in a steam canner for 15 minutes.

When the processing time is over, turn off the heat, car efully remove the lid and let the jars sit in the canner for about five minutes.

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