It’s that time of year when even the most urban of us start thinking about home-made jams, preserves, pickles and relishes. We associate home-made preserves with massive jam-making or canning projects that produce dozens of jars of wonderful finished products that lasted for years. How many of us, though, have the experience, time or equipment to do a massive preserving or canning project for all the different things we’d like?  In reality, most of us could never use that much.  We don’t have the large families or extended network of neighbours and friends to justify dozens of jars of preserves for sharing. All we really need is a jar or two to enjoy once the fresh produce is no longer available.  When fruits and vegetables are fresh and available, though there’s no reason to give up on having home-made jams, preserves, pickles and relishes – even if you don’t have the time or equipment to do the traditional massive canning projects.

I’ll be adding some of my quick, small quantity recipes over the next few weeks. These are all things that you can make in an evening or weekend without a lot of equipment or time required.  Try them out and let me know how you like having homemade without all the hassle!

You’ll find the first recipe for Suz’s Simple ‘Berry Spread under Condiments, Sauces & Sides.