We all love our summer fruit and what a better way to keep the taste for the upcoming chilly days by preserving it! We all think of canning or preserving for the fall when tomatoes are being done. However this traditional method of preserving food can be done all year round.

Simply be prepared. Buy your  jars and pectin ahead, so when your at the farmers’ market, traveling down to Niagara on the Lake where the bulk of our fruit grows your good and ready. It only takes a few hours to make 12 jars of jam. This year I made my strawberry jam, (with a few raspberries tossed in) and over the past two weeks I picked up some cherries from The Fruit Shack and some apricots from Peach Country Market both in the Niagara area. As you can see I make a little bit of everything, so I can have a good variety of preserves over the winter, that will always bring my thoughts back to the warm sun, the fruit trees and freshness of real home made tastes!

My winter collection of preserves is growing by the week!

The cherry jam is a rich burgundy, chunky in texture and simply delicious! With 1/4 the sugar.

The apricot jam is a star bust orange, again chunky in texture and loaded with flavor! Again with 1/4 the sugar.

Get busy, get canning, email me to learn how to make the best tasting preserves this season!

think fresh*live local*eat healthy

eat local

Stacey Fokas

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