Happy May, friends! This month, the Mastery Challenge topic is berries! Fresh, frozen, or dried are all fair game, as are any stripe of berry, as well as any kind of preserve that speaks to you, as long as it features a berry.
Now, I know that the topic of berries doesn’t match perfectly with what’s in season in every part of the country (it’s quite hard to make it perfect for everyone all the time). If local berries aren’t available in your region, you could use imported berries, or put some frozen berries to work.
If you can’t abide non-local produce, you could also take a look at the Southern Hemisphere challenge topics, to see if that May topic speaks to you.
Here are some possible preserves you could tackle this month.
- Jam
- Jelly
- Fruit butter
- Syrup
- Shrub
- Chutney
- Infused vinegar
- Liqueur
- Compote
- Curd
Here are a few of my favorite berry preserves.
- Strawberry Meyer Lemon Jam
- Honey-sweetened Strawberry Vanilla Jam
- Strawberry Chutney
- Strawberry Maple Butter
- Cranberry Blueberry Butter
- Blueberry Ginger Jam
- Blueberry Butter
- Raspberry Meyer Lemon Shrub
- Honey-sweetened Raspberry Preserves
- Low Sugar Blackberry Rhubarb Jam
Finally, let’s recap how to participate in the Mastery Challenge. You choose a project that fits the challenge and you make it. Around the 15th of the month, I will publish a post here on the blog that will include a Google Form. You will use this to report your project (though this is not required, it ensures that I am able to include you in the monthly data).
If you want to share a picture of the thing you made, post it to Instagram with the hashtag #fijchallenge. And if you have questions, join us in the FIJ Community Group over on Facebook. Most importantly, have fun.
