Here in the northeast, I like to think of this time of year as almost summer. Because even if I’m wearing a scarf when going outside, or need to pull out my puffy coat for one final day or two, when the light starts to change, everything changes. Without fail, one fine evening in March or April when I’m cooking dinner in my city digs, I look up and realize – damz! It’s still bright outside! And it’s uphill from there until at least October as far as I’m concerned.
As soon as it’s almost summer I long to get my paws on some luscious summer fruit. Rhubarb first, then strawberries, gooseberries, and before long an abundance of blues hang like baubles right outside my door complete with birds diving like missiles directly into the surrounding nets for a forbidden taste. Peaches, plums, apricots, oh, and how could I forget the most fleeting of all – raspberries.
This particular almost summer I am happy to get my paws on a brand new preserving book, the sequel in fact to one of the best all around preserving books of recent years. This one focuses on, you guessed it, fruit!
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Having worked quite a bit with Sherri’s first preserving book, I was very excited to receive my copy of put ‘em up! fruit from her generous publisher, Storey. A lot of great recipes here for sure – blueberry ketchup (I must try!) grapefruit sections in lavender syrup, maraschino cherries (if that doesn’t impress your friends, nothing will!) and five spice plum sauce to name just a few. What I also love about this book is the troubleshooting section – concise instructions and tips on how to avoid such mishaps as the dreaded fruit float, siphoning, cloudy jelly, and preserves too thick or too thin. There’s also primers on acid, pectin, and reaching the gel point – essential things to know when putting your fruit in jars.