Preserving Posts
How to Make Candied Fruit Peel
Candied fruit peel is one of those miraculous acts of culinary alchemy. You take tough, bitter fruit rind that’s packed with oil you could use to polish your furniture, and, thanks to the magic of sugar, transform it into heavenly, fragrant candy.
Concord Grape Jam
Concord grapes are the very same little purple wonders that give Welch’s grape juice its signature flavor. Here’s how to turn those jewels into jam.
Classic Bread & Butter Pickles (No Canning Required!)
This recipe produces classic bread and butter pickles—the kind my mom used to make every summer when I was a little mouse. They’re sweet. They’re tangy. They have a fabulous crunch. Like my Quick, Fresh Pickles, there’s no canning required for these babies (in fact, they just need an overnight soak in the fridge).
Quick Fresh Pickles
These crisp pickles are high on my list of nibbles and noshes to take on a picnic or a barbecue. They’re the perfect cool companion to spicy barbecue or lunch-counter favorites like a thick pastrami on rye. And while pickling can seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. You can make these crunchy spears overnight with a handful of pickling cukes. The best part? No canning required.
Sweet Cherry Jam
I love jam. On toast. In marinades for ribs and glazes for chicken. Warmed up and drizzled over vanilla ice cream. This sweet cherry jam is a fabulous way to enjoy cherries as they come into season. Because this jam has a lot of sugar, I never bother canning it. It will keep just fine in the fridge for a few weeks—if it lasts that long.
Fiery Green Hot Sauce
What do you get when you combine mashed chilis, white vinegar, and a little salt? A homemade hot sauce with super-fresh, vibrant flavor that beats the pants off of anything store bought. At least so says the Mouse. Some things are too good to resist. For those of you who don’t know me that well, [...]
Hey, You: Save the Mint! And Make It Schnappy!
This week, I started to think about one of my dreaded end-of-summer chores: cleaning up the garden. Aside from all the weeding, pruning, and plucking, I needed to figure out what I’m doing with all my mint. Our front garden is positively overrun with a few different kinds—from traditional peppermint, to run-of-the-mill spearmint and the [...]
Infuse Your Booze: Making Fruit-Flavored Liquors
Fresh fruit + vodka = summer in a glass, all year round. I’ve been making fruit-infused liquors for about 10 years. I get it from my mother, who makes jars of lemon verbena liquor and blackberry brandy (and amazing Irish Cream in the winter). I know the whole fruit infusion thing has been done to [...]
Crunchy Kosher Pickles
Seeing as it’s summer, here are the pickles I remember from my childhood. They’re the perfect complement to any BBQ. They’re really crispy, and have just the right amount of bite that they don’t overwhelm whatever you eat them with. Mom’s Kosher Pickles 4 lbs. pickling cukes 1/4 cup salt 8 cups water 5 cloves [...]
