Preserves

Limequats aren’t common, but they’re becoming more visible. One great way to use them is in a simple, versatile syrup like this one with honey.

My most-requested recipe: a classic Meyer lemon marmalade that won Best in Show at the county fair. Check out the added trick for using Pomona’s Pectin to get an easier, more reliable set.

A tiny-batch nectarine jam I made without added pectin, born from a bag of nectarines brought along on a no-connectivity trip to Alaska. This one’s made for the fridge, with notes on scaling up for canning.

A low-sugar apricot jam with almond extract and a splash of Grand Marnier, made from a surprise gift of fruit off a friend’s tree. Unsure of the exact variety of fruit, I named it for the beehives that sit in front of his orchard.

One of the reasons I’m keeping this blog these days is to document my experiments replacing sugar with honey in preserves, and this grapefruit honey jam was worth noting.

A honey-sweetened plum butter with orange, cardamom, and vanilla bean, made from a friend’s frozen plums. I wanted something rich and tart for the holidays that wasn’t cranberry relish, and this did the trick.

The other day I spent hours working on an apricot thing that turned out terribly. It happens to everyone with a recipe blog: You get what you think is a great idea — in this case it was sugar-free vanilla apricot butter made in a slow cooker — and you launch into your preparations with…

My neighbor Joanne got three new hens: Cairo, Dubai, and Pauline. Joanne is getting ready to move and had sworn off new chickens, but when she saw these three babies getting trampled in an enclosure of bigger pullets, she scooped them right up. They’re curious about everything, especially Dubai, pictured above: What’s in that basket?…

This week, I got to drive down to the central coast of California to spend a couple of days in Big Sur. That meant passing through some of the best fruit and veggie growing regions in the state. More particularly, it meant bringing home four pounds of early variety Brooks cherries from a roadside stand…

I’m excited to share this new cookbook with you. Even if I weren’t personally connected with it, I’d say Hollyhock Garden to Table would be a fine addition to your kitchen resources. What’s fun for me is that I am connected with it, in three small ways: First, it is written and photographed by two…

A couple weeks ago, I got hold of my very first bergamots. Is it worth noting that spell check wants me to replace “bergamots” with “flabbergasts”?  Bergamots are, in many ways, a flabbergasty citrus fruit. They are astonishingly fragrant. (You probably already know they’re responsible for the unique scent and flavor of Earl Grey tea.)…

Come July, when our too-short Blenheim apricot season arrives, I’m going to make an entire case of honeyed apricots from Marisa’s Food in Jars cookbook. Last summer, I made only four pints. I didn’t know then that I was going to give up sugar and that these apricots could serve as the base for a…