I stayed up too late canning last night (vanilla peach butter, peach-plum-cherry jam, and apricot everything) and then got up early this morning to fly to Chicago. Just call me the canning jetsetter! I have a slew of events this week and then I’m back to the east coast on Friday afternoon. Now, links!
- Check out this fabulous fig syrup on Serious Eats from Autumn.
- Pretty pictures of tomato canning and a canning recipe round-up.
- I’d heard a couple months back that Ball no longer requires softening the sealing compound in lids, but I still do it. What do you think?
- An inspired apple fig chutney, based on my apple pear version.
- Sriracha pickled eggs. Love that bright red brine!
- Loved this interview with Karen Solomon over at Eat Boutique.
- Honey sweetened blackberry butter!
- Savory parmesan rosemary biscotti. I bet these would be amazing served with jam and cheese.
- I have a blackberry sage jam in my first book that I love and I bet this version with blueberries is no less delightful!
Because I didn’t get a link post up last Sunday, I also didn’t manage to announce the winner of the Mrs. Wages giveaway last week either. But here it is now. The winner is #12/Earle Grossman, who said:
My favorite pickle is a half-sour pickle that I have eaten and made since I was five years old. Started buying them out of a pickle barrel and then learned how to make them from my grandmother. 60 years and I am still looking forward to making them this summer.
I will update this space later tonight with the Orchard Road giveaway winners. Stay tuned!
The winners of the Orchard Road giveaway are:
re: warming the lids – i’d heard that a while back, and have taken to using silicone-tipped tongs to dip the lids in the hot water bath immediately before using them. while that doesn’t seem necessary according to the Ball directions, i feel better about the lids and jars being at the same temp. have had good success with the jars sealing.
I’m going blackberry-picking this weekend, and was looking for ideas for jam variations. I hadn’t even thought about a Blackberry Butter! Your blackberry sage jam sounds delicious, too!
I kinda like the idea of skipping the lid warming … wonder if all my current lids are “new enough” ? Is there some way to tell?
3 burners going in my tiny kitchen can get hot and steamy — so skipping one of them is certainly appealing!
I’ve only got 1-2 burners that really work. I have the lids in a heat proof bowl on the counter. A few minutes before I’m ready to fill jars, I ladle some of the boiling water from the canning pot into the bowl with lids. It works great and I don’t need another burner going.
That’s a great idea! I’ve always been annoyed that I end up using another burner just to heat lids.
What brand and model of hot plate in the first photo?
It’s a cheap butane burner. I got it at an Asian grocery store.
Tried skipping the warming, didn’t get a good seal. I won’t be skipping it again.
I would love to skip warming the lids- I only have 3 burners on my stove and I would love the extra space.
Julia, I believe I read here on a previous post that some clever soul came up with the idea of keeping the lids warm in a small crock pot of water. You still may not have room, but I thought it was a great tip. Personally, I have been microwaving a Pyrex bowl of water and warming my lids that way. I’ll see how things go skipping that step.
I usually pour some of the water from my kettle over the lids and let them sit on the counter to soften–so far so good with that method, and I don’t plan to change.
Thank you SO MUCH for linking to my Apple Fig Chutney! Your books are so well-written and inspiring.
I still warm the lids. It couldn’t hurt.