Strawberries and rhubarb are now in season, which means that the summer canning season has begun. Preserving the bounty of fresh fruit is so satisfying, especially when you open a jar in the dead of winter and smell the freshness of summer. Kitchen Conservatory sells all of the necessary canning jars and equipment.

Our Recipe file have lots of recipes that are wonderful to can:

Cherry Ketchup

Fruit Chutney

Fruit Jam

Pickled Fruit

Strawberry-Hot Pepper Jelly

Tomato Preserves

Tomato Ketchup

Fruit butters don’t contain any butter, but the fruit is cooked down to a thick paste that can be spread like butter. Since a lot of fruit makes a little amount of fruit butter, make fruit butter when you are overrun with way too much fruit.

Fruit Butter

• 4 pounds fruit, such as peaches, apricots, apples, cherries, etc.
• 1 1/3 cups apple juice
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ¼ cup lemon juice

Peel and seed the fruit and chop. Place the fruit in a stock pot. Add the apple juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the fruit is very soft, stirring occasionally.  Pass the jam through a food mill. Return to the stock pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar and lemon. Cook until very thick, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. As the mixture cooks down, be careful not to let the fruit scorch on the bottom of the pan. Ladle into sterilized jars and seal.

Please join us for our three upcoming canning classes, so you can master fabulous recipes for canning, plus learn how to safely can and preserve food:

• “Wham, Jam, Thank You Ma’am” on May 29
• “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” on July 30
• “Jar Wars” on August 26