‘Tis the season for preserving…

It’s summer time in Australia and beautiful fruits are in abundance. So, getting a long way off the gluten-free track, lately I’ve been dedicating a fair bit of time to preserving.

I love the thriftiness of preserving – taking fruit that is either cheap or free and adding some sugar and a fair bit of love to create a lovely jar of something special. It’s great to have plenty of preserves on hand for gifts, to say thankyou, or just because you know that the recipient will really appreciate it.

I got into preserving because I am lucky enough to have a fig tree which produces crimson figs in abundance. I found that more people liked fig jam than fresh figs, so I started trying to make jam. Armed with my Mother-in-law’s recipe and helpful advice from my Mother and Grandmother, I gradually honed the art. And then I met Vicki at our local kindy, a magnificent Greek cook, who really helped me develop consistent quality batches of jam.

Now, my specialty is fig and ginger jam. I also have a tomato relish recipe generously shared by my friend Katrina, which, even though it contains gluten, is an absolute knockout. I’ve also been given a mountain of plums, so there’s lots of spiced plum jam in my cupboard, as well as a few precious jars of Janelle Bloom’s beautiful mango and vanilla bean jam.

I’ve also managed to find some cheap peaches, so I’m looking forward to making my late Nanna’s peach chutney. What a way to remember my childhood!