I have always loved the idea of canning food and drinks; putting fresh produce away when they are plentiful and easily available, for times when they are not. In this modern age, when pretty much anything is available all year round (even if you have to pay more for it), canning and preserving has become a bit of lost art, but judging by the blogosphere, it is definitely coming back into fashion.
I started with a couple of recipes, and found it surprisingly easy. The first recipe I tried was apple butter. I have fond memories of eating apple butter when I was a child, but have never seen it since, so when a recipe came into my feed reader from Simple Bites, I thought I would give it a go. I cooked mine in my slow cooker rather than the stovetop, which saved a heap of stirring and worrying it would stick, but I still managed to overcook it a bit - I like to think the slightly burnt flavour adds some "dimension"!
My second experiment was some lemon cordial from the wonderful book River Cottage Preserves Handbook. There were so many recipes in this book I wanted to try, but this one looked like the easiest, and I had a glut of lemons, so it seemed perfect. It came out absolutely perfect! It was just the right balance of sweet and sour, just the way homemade lemon cordial should be. I can't wait until I try my next recipe!
Sorry, no photos, since I have temporarily misplaced my camera in my massive reorganisation of my craft/schoolroom!
Disclaimer: the book link is an Amazon affiliate link
Labels: food, lifestyle, preserving