Just can it! Preserve summer fruits and vegetables

Personalize your jars with homemade labels

By Liz Eustace

Preserving delicious fruits and vegetables is an easy, cost-effective and entertaining way to capture the scents and flavours of summer in a jar.

Nothing tastes sweeter than jam made from the rhubarb in your garden or berries freshly picked from a local farm. Preserves are also a wonderful gift idea that last year round and are a personalized way to remind people of the freshness of summer.

Follow preserve pointers from a pro

Yvonne Tremblay, a three-time grand champion jam-and-jelly maker at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair and author of Prizewinning Preserves (Prentice Hall PTR, 2001) and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jam, Jellies and Preserves (Alpha Books, 2003), outlines the basics to make your preserves a success.

• Start with quality ingredients. Grow produce yourself or pick some up at a “pick-your-own” farm.
• Measure accurately.
• Follow recipes meticulously.
• Sterilize your jars. Use an ordinary pot, boil water and place the jars and lids in water for 10 minutes.
• Place hot preserves into hot jars. Fill the jars, leaving ¼” to ½” of space at the top.
• Tighten lids just until they are snug and allow the vacuum to create a good seal.
• Return preserves to the pot of boiling water and process for five minutes.
• Remove and store in a cool place for 24 hours.

Tremblay also notes that when you go to eat your preserves or give them away, make sure the lid is still indented and has not “popped,” a sign that your preserving technique was unsuccessful.

Start with an easy recipe

Mary McGrath, a Toronto-based home economist and longtime preserver, suggests beginners start with something simple such as pickles. “When you preserve with vinegar,” she says, “it’s an acid and it’s very difficult to go wrong and have spoilage.”

Tremblay’s tip for newcomers is to simply “follow the recipe exactly, adding ingredients when told and cooking for exactly the specified time.”

Be inventive

Although making preserves may seem risky, Tremblay notes that “once you learn the method for one, it’s the same for each preserve.” And that’s when the real creativity begins, according to Tremblay, who encourages making more than just the traditional strawberry jam.

“You can make things that you just can’t buy,” says Tremblay, listing off peach lavender jam, orange zucchini marmalade and purple basil wine jelly as some of the recipes she’s made.

Pick seasonal produce

So, how do you know what to preserve and the best time to do it? Foodland Ontario offers informative charts that illustrate peak seasons and the availability of fruits and vegetables. But remember that weather greatly affects harvest times, so use these charts only as a guide.

Tremblay reminds people that preserving is a science and can be complicated by the procedure and ingredients. Bernardin, a supplier for preserving, has an informative web site offering step-by-step instructions, recipes and tools for home canning.

Create labels and tags on the computer.

Customize each label.

Attach labels and tags to jars.

Jazz up your jars with homemade labels

With a little help from your computer, you can make decorative or personalized labels detailing the story of your preserves, such as the family hike when you gathered blueberries or the trials of growing your first patch of zucchini. Follow the instructions on Microsoft Home Magazine’s label templates for Microsoft Word.

When it’s cosy by the fire and the ground is covered in snow, open the jar of peaches that you picked while on a family adventure. Preserving is not only about the food; it’s also about the experience.

All styling and photography by Julie Stoyka of Zariel Creative