Many times over the years, I’ve been asked the question, “What is your favorite thing to preserve?” Typically I hedge a little, saying something about my allegiance to seasonality or simply that there are too many delicious things in the world to preserve. However, when absolutely pressed, I’ll finally admit that there are a few jams and spreads I love best of all.
Sour cherry jam, featuring big hunks of fruit suspended in a ruby syrup. Thick, sticky tomato jam for spreading on toasted cheese sandwiches or dolloping on roasted sweet potatoes. And a long-cooked onion spread, gently caramelized and tangy with vinegar or beer.
When Maggie Battista from Eat Boutique came to me and suggested that we team up on a box, I knew immediately that I wanted it to include some of my favorites. And so we constructed a box that includes We Love Jam Tart Cherry Jam, Blue Chair Fruit Early Girl Tomato Jam, Wozz Triple Ale Onion Spread, and a signed copy of my book. And at $58 for all those goodies, it’s something of a deal for the preserves lover in your life.
Thanks to Eat Boutique, I also have one of these Preserves Collection boxes to give away to a lucky Food in Jars reader. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share your favorite preserve. Be it jam, chutney, pickle, or spread, tell me about your very favorite thing to preserve.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Saturday, November 2, 2013. Winners will be chosen at random (using random.org) and will be posted on Sunday, November 3, 2013.
- Giveaway is open to US residents.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.
Blueberry jam with cinnamon in it.
Marmalades
Right now the favorite is this Blood Orange / Meyer Lemon mix
Strawberry Jam! I really want to make the cantaloupe jam recipe from your book next year.
Homemade boysenberry jam.
Almost impossible to choose, but I love lemon ginger jelly
I’m new to canning on my own (instead of helping/watching my mom in the kitchen) and so far my favorite has been spaghetti sauce, because I can’t wait for the delicious pasta in a couple months, when all the tomatoes taste like styrofoam!
My favorite is usually anything with fig.And this year I made a caramelized onion, port wine and fig tapenade that is pretty tasty.
My favorites preserve is Roasted Peach Butter. I love peaches and roasted them just makes them all that much better.
Love me some cantaloupe with vanilla jam.
All year, I look forward to the two weeks or so when I can get some paw paws at my farmer’s market. I buy them all out every week, and still only wind up with about 4lbs. Then I spend 2-3 hours standing in the kitchen peeling and seeding them all, swearing up and down that I will never do this ridiculous chore again. But once you get them on the stove, you’re only 30 minutes away from Paw Paw Butter, which I swear is like bananas foster in a jar. I only get about 6 or 7 jelly jars out of it, and I greedily horde them all year, only offering my friends a taste, very rarely a whole jar. Totally worth it.
My favorite preserve is peach preserve. My grandmother had a peach tree. Every year we’d either can the peaches or she would make a peach preserve that made your mouth water!
Your strawberry vanilla jam – can’t get enough of it and always wish I had made more during strawberry season!
It’s definitely a toss up. I love the Strawberry Vanilla Jam, but on the opposite end, I absolutely love the Garlic Dill Pickles! Sometimes I refrigerate the pickles and skip the boiling water process. They tend to go quickly!
Pickled peaches. They are so versatile!
Shiro plum jam. I get the plums from a neighbor’s tree, and it’s lovely as a straight jam, or when mixed with soy sauce as a simple asian plum sauce for savory dishes.
Wozz chutneys are my absolute favourite. So versatile and such a punch of flavor! Make a dressing, toss some on fish before the oven, spice up a salsa or top a burger. Great to see some of their product in your basket!!
Caramel Spiced Pear Butter. I got it from my mother-in-law and have made it more my creation over time. It’s simply the best thing in the mornings on greek yogurt – or at night over icecream or frozen yogurt. No need to peel the pears either…making it easy (just needs time to cook down).
Fresh June strawberries from New York state are my favorite to preserve!
Hard to choose just one but cherry preserves would be at the top of the list!
thus far? Raspberry Honey Lemon Jam
Tough call, for sure, but I would have to go with Sour Cherry Jam, which coincidentally, is how I found your blog! It’s like Cherry Pie on toast! A close second is Apricot Jam which truly tastes like summer.
Really, my favorite is almost always whatever is next to come in season, or whatever has just run out on the pantry shelf! Least favorite is frequently whatever has just been canned or otherwise preserved because I am sick of it.
So far there have been very few abject failures. There is usually some way to repurpose it even when it does not come out exactly as originally intended.
But, a stacked chili in quart jars just may be an all time favorite. (You guessed it – there is none currently on the shelf!)
hmmmm…it would probably be just plain red raspberry jam. SO good!
The favorite around my house is salted caramel pear butter! Yum
lemon curd!
Elderberry jelly!
Up until this year, my favorite thing to preserve was apple pie jam. The family loves it and it makes a great gift. Things changed this past summer when the two pear trees we planted started producing. Now I am all about preserving pears!
my carrot cake jam was my favorite but I didn’t make enough
Apple butter. Or wild grape jelly! Or beachplum jelly. or….
My favorite thing to preserve is garlic. Pickled garlic! We eat it nearly every day.
I still remember a tart cherry, walnut and lime conserve I made years ago …..
I just love chutney…
Tough decision! For today, I will go with my Spiced Peach Butter – It is SO fall!
I love ginger pear jam
Pear “chips”.
Seville Orange with Piloncillo (a Blue Chair recipe). Or Tayberry, or Double Apricot (Mes Confitures) or…corn salsa. It’s been a busy year.
To difficult to pick only one – but will say anything that is pickled.
I really liked a sweet tomato chutney I made last year but can’t remember what recipe I used! Maybe Madhur Jaffrey? Have to look at my cookbooks.
Just a nice simple jam – any fruit will do. They are fairly quick, easy and everyone loves them.
we love raspberry anyway jam jelly or syrup
wow so many people read yr blog! my new fav, which i just ate so its fresh in my mind is my honey bourbon fig butter. (http://landersbloggings.blogspot.com/2013/09/foraged-fig-butter.html)
Anything that sits still in my kitchen long enough gets thrown in a jar with brine. I guess that explains the wiggly kids… 🙂
Ginger peach jam is this year’s favorite so far!
I love to preserve whole fruits and applesauces!
Tomato Jam. I loved the Honey Tomato Jam you posted not too long ago. I plan to make that again, very soon!
Right now it’s White Peach Ginger Jam! Love it!
Definitely chutney! I love the spices and sweet/sour mix. It is so versatile and can go with sweet dishes, meat, vegetables, or just yoghurt and bread. I have also recently eaten some habanero bluberry jam that knocked my socks off 🙂
So far I have the most fun making marmalades. I can usually conscript my husband into the process and it’s a really fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon together.
Fig jam is my all time favorite to make!
Seville orange marmalade. When I was little my mother had a mix she would use and we would have orange marmalade.
I have several that I truly enjoy.Your Nectarine Lime jam has become my favorite jam. I am also enjoying my roasted red pepper ketchup and my peppery dilly beans.This looks like a wonderful package.
perfect pear and chocolate jam in my happy hedgehog kitchen from your site. ooh la la it’s that delicious.
I like something with strawberry, strawberry peach, strawberry pinot noir or something new and interesting.
Mmm, love all these great favorites everyone is posting! I love bing cherry & lemon jam, with quartered cherries and beautiful strings of zest in it. Heavenly stuff on toast with almond butter.
I love all kinds of jams, and am always experimenting with new relishes, too! Love Sweet Red Pepper relish!
Mmm probably peach jalapeno jam! YUM!
Currently obsessed with ginger jelly. Over time, though, I have to say I love making jams that mix peaches with non-traditional spices.
I have a large garden and preserve many fruits and veggies, and started pressing apples for cider this year. I use your book for inspiration, and made your mulled cider jelly this evening!
This year , I preserved quince jelly for the first time ever and then used the pulp to make quince jam and it is my new favorite….LOVE IT… hoping to make a second batch to give away as gifts
Cherry brandy jam……soooo good!!!
I love concord grape jam!
Onion jam+burger+ fries+beer = a good night.
Fantastic! 😀
Last year I gave jars of my green tomato sauce with cute little USBs shaped like Christmas trees that I loaded with recipe ideas and attached with raffia. This year it may be Strawberry Margarita jam, hot pepper jelly or Limoncello, all made with produce from our garden. Love all your great ideas!
Just started preserving this year, but my favorite thing that I’ve done so far is a peach butterscotch sauce from juicy summer peaches – amazing on ice cream or yogurt!
Black currant jam in cup of hot tea in place of sugar.
Hard to pin it down to one! Got to go with tutti fruity this year! Keep on canning.
It’s hard to choose, but… pickles!
I have two jams that are tied, simple Pineapple and Mango. Oh, maybe I will try them together now that I wrote them. I have only been canning for 10 months and now have over 460 jars done. I have enjoyed this adventure of learning and processing our groceries for a healthier family. The best part is my 8 year old granddaughter loves to help and she is great. My favorite canning items at this time are chicken, meatballs and sausage. Thank you 🙂
So far tomato jam is my favorite because it is so versatile and feels grown up. (Unlike plain ketchup.)
Strawberry vanilla preserves are my favorite
Concord grape jelly – I just LOVE the color!
My favorite thing to make is strawberry jam. I frequently do not get it quite right, resulting in a runny product, but my teenage son doesn’t care. He still loves it. It is one of the few things that I do “right” (in Teen World)!
Sour cherry almond jam! Yummy!
Soups and applesauce!
Soups are so gratifying because they serve up a perfect lunch to go or in a hurry, and applesauce is just my favorite thing. I love mixing apple varieties to find the perfect sweet/tart taste
Apricot. From the time my Pop-pop introduced it to me when I was very small.
I just drooled on my phone reading how each one can be enjoyed-fir me it is strawberry ham cause still have my canning training wheels on-.)
It’s a toss up between the cognac fig preserves and the strawberry ginger jam I make.
At the moment it is Blackberry Apricot Jam. In a few months it will be Three Citrus Marmalade.
Well, it’s hard to pick just one! I just made the pear vanilla jam last weekend and it was divine! But I did make a mixed berry jam this summer that was awesome!
Love your blog!
plum and peach jam
This year I made a roasted tomatillo salsa that’s so good. I also made a Moroccan fig jam that’s yummy with cheese.
I’m a big fan of the Asian Pear Butter from my fruit CSA, North Star Orchard in Cochranville, PA.
This year I discovered a magical combination for jam: red currents, gooseberries, and blueberries. (I call it ‘Current Blue Goose’)
I haven’t done much preserving yet, it’s one of those things that I keep saying I’ll do more of. Hopefully my wife and I will be able to get a spot in our community garden next year and we’ll be growing our own things to preserve. I have had success with some spicy bread and butter pickles in the past, and I’m thinking of making some condiments (mustard and ketchup) this year as Christmas gifts. We’ll see.
This was my first year making jam and I enjoyed it so much!! My favorite was a spiced plum jam that was just awesome. I also did a triple berry, low sugar for my Dad, his favorite, and diabetic friendly.
Strawberry jam! It’s the first thing I preserve every spring/summer, so it feels very exciting. Plus, it’s one of my favorites to eat all year!
I love zucchini relish on crackers 🙂
Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam, amazing stuff.
I love the classic strawberry jam!
Strawberry/blueberry. So good.
Peach Saffron jam is my absolute favorite. At least until the next yummy fruit is ripe at the farmer’s market…
Peach Vanilla jam is my favorite! Each beautiful jar glows like gold and is just as precious!
I love canning balsamic fig jam…. it’s so good on so many things!
Tomato Jam!
good ole’ raspberry jam!!
Apple butter in little jars for Christmas gifts.
I’ve never tried your jams but I love strawberry preserve and a citrus star anise jam. Where are you located?!
Peach jam! Applesauce!
I would have to say plain raspberry jam, I love raspberries! Sour cherry sounds wonderful but no one else in the house would eat it. My husband and daughter would say pears, they will eat anything pear that I can.