Summertime Preserving

Anyone who has ever attempted to make jam knows that it isn't a difficult task. Seriously, all you have to do is boil fruit and sugar together until it's thick enough and you have yourself a decent jam.

However, making jam, the kind that has the perfect consistency and colour, just the right amount of fruit to sugar ratio and the proper level of acidity to seal the jars, requires a little more experience. There have been a few jam fiascos in my kitchen. Some jams have been so sweet that the type of fruit used was almost unrecognizable, some were too runny for a knife to grasp and spread on toast. Then there were those that were so hard that you couldn't stir it into a bowl of yogurt, those that tasted so boozy that you couldn't have a spoonful before 8 pm and finally, I have almost tossed perfectly delicious jams into the garbage because some of the fruit separated from its tasty syrup and floated to the top of the jar or there was too much foam left in the jam. Unacceptable.

Then there are the pickled vegetables. Don't even get me started on the relishes, the chutneys and the salsas, that's a whole different game. I definitely spend a lot of time in my kitchen, talking about finding the right texture, level of sweetness and the perfect amount of vinegar and salt. Canning is an old-fashioned method of preserving and to some, it is a ridiculous waste of time. They simply cannot wrap their head around the idea of spending a whole day in the kitchen, spooning hot liquid into jars and sealing them for future use. For those of us who obsess over the colour and thickness of cooked fruit, I can think of few things that I find more satisfying than hearing the sound of that lid snapping and sealing or looking at rows and rows of colourful little jars at the end of the day.

See how they are glowing? Don't tell me that's not exciting!

Over the years, I have learned my way around a pot of boiling fruit, with the help of trusty cookbooks and, more importantly, friends who share the same interest. It may not be everyone's cup of tea to spend their paycheck on flats of berries and Mason jars, but if you happen to have a friend who does, be very nice to her. Chances are that there is a huge stash of jam hidden somewhere in her house and you will get to sample a few different kinds with a fantastic cheese plate. You might even leave with a jar or two.