Canning - How To Can Homemade Fig Preserves With Recipe and Tips

During the summertime, I look forward to purchasing a lot of great tasting figs from our local fruit orchard and one of the recipes I enjoy making with them is Fig Preserves.

If you are not familiar with how to purchase and store figs, let me give you a few tips. Figs are a very fragile fruit so they need to be handled carefully. You never want to toss them around in your shopping bag or basket. When selecting the perfect fruit, you always want to check for blemishes and only purchase ripe ones that are defect free. Figs do not have a long shelf life so they need to be eaten up within 2 days of purchasing them. When storing them, store at room temperature and allow the air to circulate around them. You do not want to store your figs near a heat source or window.

Orchard

Serving Ideas: Fig Preserves are great served on fresh bread, on bagels, as a pancake topping, on muffins and rolls, with crackers or as a marinade for poultry.

Canning - Homemade Fig Preserves Recipe
4 lbs. fresh ripe figs
4 1/2 lbs. granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeds removed
tap water
You will want to start out by washing and drying your figs. Cut them down and mash them with a potato masher. In a large stock pot, combine the mashed figs, granulated sugar, lemon juice and the lemon slices. Pour in just enough tap water to help dissolve the granulated sugar. Turn the heat up on your burner to medium-high and bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil for 12-15 minutes. You will need to stir the mixture pretty often to keep it from scorching. (tip: I like using a silicone spatula for stirring so that the mixture doesn't stick to my spoon).

Once it is done cooking, ladle the preserves into hot, clean, pint sized glass canning jars. You will want to process them in your water bath canner for about 10 minutes or follow the directions that came with your canner for processing preserves.

Once they are done processing, remove them from the water bath canner (allow the water to drain off the jar and back into the canner) and place them onto a wire rack to cool. Once cool, label your jars. Your new fig preserves will keep for up to 1 year if they have been canned properly.

Canning - How To Can Homemade Fig Preserves With Recipe and Tips

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking, baking and canning. You can visit Shelly's online foodie blog called Shakin 'N Bakin in the Kitchen at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for free canning tips and recipes.

Canning - How to Make Homemade Apple Chutney Plus a Recipe

During the fall season, we love to visit our local fruit orchard and pick our own apples so that we can make some homemade apple chutney.

We enjoy using this chutney as a sandwich spread or as an addition to our homemade chicken, turkey and tuna salads. If you are using it as a salad spread, cut your mayonnaise or salad dressing in half and replace the other half with the chutney.

Orchard

This recipe requires the basic home canning equipment: half-pint or pint-sized mason jars, water bath canner, jar lifter, seals and rings, ladle and a funnel.

Apple Chutney Recipe

2 quarts apples

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 lbs. seedless raisins

4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup sweet red peppers, finely chopped

2 red peppers, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 1/2 tablespoons mustard seed

2 tablespoons ginger

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons table salt

4 cups white vinegar

Apple Preparation: Wash, peel, core and chop your apples, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to prevent darkening; set aside.

In a large stock pot, combine all of the above ingredients, one at a time and stirring in between each addition. Over medium heat, simmer the mixture for 60 to 85 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Use a nonstick silicone spatula to stir the mixture every 10 minutes.

Once mixture is done cooking, ladle it into hot and clean mason jars, leaving a 1/2" head space. Use a soft cotton towel and wipe the rims clean before placing the seal and ring onto your jar.

Process jars in your water bath canner for 10 to 15 minutes or according to manufacturers instructions. Once they are done, carefully remove them from the water and let them cool in a non-drafty area of your kitchen. After 2 hours have passed, recheck your jars to make sure they have all sealed properly.

Canning - How to Make Homemade Apple Chutney Plus a Recipe

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends and trying out new recipes. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com or at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional free recipes and cooking tips.