Nostalgic Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - Toast Topper #92

Can you capture nostalgia in a jar? This Strawberry Rhubarb Jam tastes exactly how I remember my grandma's to be - and it should since its only 3 ingredients, time and heat! Simple is often the best!

 

For once, our rhubarb and the local strawberries managed to peak at the same time! I love this time of year when everything is fresh and bright - and nothing reminds me more of one particular childhood summer than strawberry rhubarb jam. I'm sure my paternal grandmother made it more than once, but there is a definite memory of a summer when I was about 10 or so where we visited a community garden and farm stall prior to me helping her make dill pickles and strawberry rhubarb freezer jam. I used to swear I hated rhubarb too - what kid would like this sour / bitter vegetable of all things? But her jam convinced me that it was possible to make it taste good with enough sugar and strawberries added in!

I came across a recipe similar to my grandma's on Food52 and decided to give it a go with a few other tricks I had from an old church cookbook, namely freezing the strawberries, rhubarb and a tiny bit of sugar first before completing the maceration. I'm not entirely sure what this does to be honest, except draw out extra liquid and leaving the berries and rhubarb a bit more chunky. Whatever it did or didn't do, this recipe is a keeper - it's perfect for a small glut of strawberries or when you only have a few jam lovers in the house (shocker, I know).

Cran-Apple Butter - Toast Topper #89

Cran-Apple Butter is a sweet-tart spread that is perfect in its simplicity - nothing more than diced apples, fresh cranberries, apple juice, honey and brown sugar with a big pinch of time!

 

I'm going to make a confession here - I had to look up when American Thanksgiving was. Even though I live in Canada, and we absolutely have Black Friday and all the network feeds from the States, we aren't that crazy about the holiday (or sales) in my household. That said, I now know that it is November 26, which means that if you are still wondering what to cook up as a twist on this anything-but-normal holiday you have time to try this lovely Toast Topper on for size! 

Since I still had apples from our orchard adventure sitting in the fridge, I had to start thinking of ways to use them before they turned into vinegar (the basement was starting to smell like a brewery due to the other bags in the not-so cold cellar). Along with a compote, an apple-onion jam, a batch of this lovely conserve and a classic apple butter, I tried a twist on the cranberry butter I saw on The View from Great Island, adding one to add even more pectin and a little more of a mediating smoothness to the mixture. Like most fruit butters, this one is really easy to do, but it is also very time consuming. You can't really wander off while it cooks in the second half, since you need to stir it every so often, but it is great if you can pop a movie or something on for the afternoon and just bask in the aromas of the holiday. 

The resulting puree is a perfect blend of tart and sweet, with a gorgeous crimson colour and just a hint of vanilla. I canned one jar to gift at Christmas, but the other I stuck in the fridge for toast. Turns out it is also a perfect addition to sandwiches with sharp cheese and roast chicken, as well as adding to a balsamic vinaigrette base for a pop of flavour (we also added fennel and black pepper). It definitely gets better overnight, which is great for planning ahead!

Here is hoping everyone can bring a taste of the holidays to their table this year. Be safe and have fun!

Cranberry Honey Mustard

Looking for something a little different for the holiday condiments? Try this zesty, sweet Cranberry Honey Mustard on for size! Fresh cranberries are cooked down with vinegar, apple juice, honey and mustard seeds to make a richly flavoured spread or topping. Try it on leftover turkey or pork sandwiches or for making a vinaigrette for roasted veggies!

Since we Canadians had Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, cranberries were on deep discount all over the place! I bought a few bags on a whim, not entirely sure what I was going to do with them, but after almost being attacked by a frozen bag of turkey leftovers and remembering the days of sandwiches piled high with cranberry sauce, Dijon mustard and turkey I wondered, what kind of condiment could I make to celebrate that? 

 

Well, the Google gods must have been listening to my brainwaves, because when I searched for cranberry recipes yesterday morning, what came up but a honey mustard using up fresh cranberries that was perfect for canning? A quick scan of the ingredients and I was delighted to see that I had everything already, no extra shopping trip (with the lines to heck and back included) required. The hardest part was waiting for the mustard seeds to soften! Once those two hours were up, the blending and simmering went fairly quickly, though I strongly suggest a splatter screen if your pot is not super tall - the mustard thickens fairly quickly and as we all know thick bubbles splatter!

In terms of canning this, I wouldn't suggest any jars larger than 1/2 pint as the mixture is quite thick, I used 4 oz jars and they worked perfectly! What didn't fit into a jar I scooped into a plastic tub and stuck in the fridge, since my previous experience with mustard indicates that waiting 24 hours (yes, another waiting period!) makes the condiment taste richer and more well rounded. Mom has been eyeballing it for her sandwiches at lunch and I have an idea for a dressing to use over roasted Brussels sprouts with it in pride of place too!

Exotic Blackberry Jam - Toast Topper #88

This blackberry jam is flavoured with orange flower water and wildflower honey with a hint of cloves. Its a super special and not too sweet spread for your morning toast!

 

 

We are jam fiends around here - probably due to the amount of bread I bake! This year, as with every year, I wind up debating whether or not to properly can my batches of jam, because while they last longer (and are easier to gift), the water-bathing is often time and space consuming in our small, shared kitchen! That said, I do try to suck it up at least one day and process all the jams for the coming year - including this one that I first tried last year. It turned out to be a sleeper hit with everyone, so I was requested to make it again! This time, I simply refrigerated the jars because any I give away can be refrigerated within a few hours and the rest will be eaten in a few months (this jam will keep at least 4 months in the fridge if near the back and tightly lidded).

Unlike many "berry" jams, this one keeps the seeds in (our personal preference of course). You can certainly puree and strain the berries if you want / need this seedless though! The secret was the combination of honey, lime juice and orange flower water, which elevated the berries without overpowering their flavour. With less sugar than a "usual" jam, the fruit flavour was more prominent as well, which is what I, at least, look for in a Toast Topper. If there is any left over (if), I plan to make cookies with it in the middle or mix it into buttercream to top cupcakes!

Orchard Harvest Jam - Toast Topper #87

Orchard Harvest Jam is a medley of peaches, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries cooked simply. No adornments needed (or a whole lot of sugar either!)

I get so excited every year when the first Ontario peaches and berries make it to market. Too often, the window where the peaches and nectarines are just right is only a week or two long, and during that time I'm at the farmer's market as much as possible, buying up the local harvest. This year, of course, farmer's markets have been hard to find and a much different experience to attend, and honestly I've been shying away from them because the joy of interaction is gone (for now!). That said, it has been a perfect time to use up my frozen stash of various fruit from over the year, and when I came upon a bag marked "Orchard Harvest Jam" I suddenly remembered I never posted this beauty from last year! So, to make up for it (and while a loaf of zucchini bread baked away in the oven) I made another batch.

This jam is really easy to make, given the already soft nature of thawed fruit. If you only have fresh, absolutely use it - I bet it would make this even more spectacular. Just remember to peel and put the peaches, 'cause those things have no place in a Toast Topper! I used a big ol' potato masher to break down my mix, leaving a bit of texture, but if you want silky smooth run it through a blender or use a stick blender to do the job. I love to use Pomona's Pectin when I do jams, mostly because I hate super-sweet preserves but also to cater to the various health concerns of those I gift jars to. This pectin is calcium-activated and comes with directions on the packet (though I buy mine in bulk these days, so i often Google when I can't remember), but the key is that you can't use too much sugar or it won't set! I have also used this pectin in jams using honey, and it works well there as long as you can dissolve it well enough.

Technical stuff aside, though, the beauty of this jam shines through in it's simplicity. There are no spices, liqueurs, extracts or chocolate to overshadow the ripe fruit, and the tartness of the berries counteracts the sweetness of the peaches. I like to bottle this jam in 4 oz (1/2 cup) jars so that I can stash a few and give the rest away, but if you do can this I would suggest no larger than a 1/2 pint (1 cup) jar so that you can get through it before it goes off (it'll last about 2 weeks in the fridge). You can also freeze this but it won't be as thick upon thawing, then again depending on what you're doing with it that might be perfect (she says as she eats applesauce with slightly runny jam stirred into it).

Sugar Free Cherry Ginger Jam - Toast Topper #86

This sugar free cherry jam is spiked with ginger and a hint of gold leaf for an elegant Toast Topper perfect for company...or just yourself!

One of the things I knew I wanted to make my future mother in law for Christmas was a sugar free jam. While she loves to put jam on her toast, the no-sugar-added jams currently available on the market can be prohibitively expensive and limited in the range of flavours. Since I make Toast Topper for most of my giftees at holiday time, I decided to put up a small batch for her.

As for the flavours, I had a stash of local cherries in my freezer and knew that would be my base. Not wanting to leave it at just that (although it is delicious), I added a dose of ginger for a seasonal zing. Finally, just to be fancy, I sprinkled in a touch of edible gold flakes - everyone needs a bit of sparkle every day!

I know that a lot of people are leery about artificial sweeteners like Splenda, and I say to each their own (I use it in my cooking if I'm looking to cut the sugar or if I'm cooking for diabetics). You can certainly use sugar or another sweetener of your choice in place of it here, just make sure it is heat stable since it has to go through the cooking and canning process. Stevia blends like Truvia will likely work but I have not tested with those. Happy jamming!

Curried Two-Potato Lentil Soup

Curried Two-Potato Lentil Soup (adapted from Minimalist Baker) is canned up in quarts for big pots of comfort over the winter. Homegrown carrots and kale make it extra nutritious and special!

Ah, Boxing Day. It's quite possibly my favourite day of the whole Christmas holiday week, since (for the most part) the hubbub is done, the gifts are opened, the gluttony has ensued and we can just take the day to get back into routine and relax. It is specifically for days like this that I love having soup jarred up in reserve on my shelf - all I have to do is crack one open, dump it into a pot with a little water or broth (or tomato juice, which actually worked so well in this!) and let it heat up. Can we say almost instant comfort food?

What I also love about this soup is how versatile it is. Don't want to can it (or don't have a pressure canner)? Simmer away on the stovetop until everything is cooked and store in the freezer. Not vegetarian? Toss in some cooked meat (say...Christmas turkey?) and use chicken broth. In fact, my mom even added the last of a can of coconut milk (about 1/3 cup) to hers to make it more creamy and tossed in extra pepper for kick. This version is relatively mild in heat, but still flavourful and hearty enough that you won't be tempted to go back to the cookies (or ever present panettone at my house) or need a food coma-style nap!

How was your holiday break (whether or not you celebrate Christmas)? Let me know in the comments below!

Tomato Chickpea Soup (Pressure Canned)

Tomato Chickpea Soup is flavoured with cumin, ginger, garlic, garam masala, basil and curry powder for a spicy - but not hot - dinner ready in the pantry! Jars of this will be welcome in the cold months to come!

After waking up to an ice storm and frigid temperatures, it's official - we are into soup season. Since I acquired a pressure canner a few years ago, I spent pieces of my summers making jars of homemade soup for when the school year started again and cooking more or less transitioned to "quick and easy". The other great thing about canning soup and stews is that they make awesome holiday gifts - my Habitant Pea Soup is a regular feature in my gift baskets because it seems to be everyone's favourite (plus it's gluten free and vegan) but I also like to add a hearty and spicy soup to the lineup - both for others and for me!

When I was in university, the days the cafeteria had Chana Masala on the menu were some of the best. Ottawa, in case you've never been, gets insanely cold and snowy come wintertime, and the spiced, tomatoey chickpeas never got the "weird" texture of some of the other steam table items. This soup carries many of the same flavours as my favourite Indian entree, but with extra broth perfect for soaking up rice or slurping with a spoon. I actually prefer to partially cook some brown rice and add it to the soup as it heats on the stove to cook it through and thicken the soup, and mom added chopped sweet potatoes to hers for a similar effect and a sweeter taste.

By the way, if you don't have a pressure canner, no worries! Use 4 cups fully cooked chickpeas (not just soaked and flash-cooked) and simmer the soup for 45 minutes, adding the chickpeas for the last 15. For a creamy soup, puree everything - beans and all. Hearty, healthy and delicious when it's too cold for words outside!

Garlicky Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade spaghetti sauce is really easy to make, and while you won't get a lot from a garden's worth of tomatoes the flavour of each drop is well worth the labour!

Well, the tomatoes have finally come in - well, most of them anyway. I actually really lucked out this year and had almost all my garden produce ripen on cue - I suddenly had the makings of a classic spaghetti sauce on my hands! With my copy of The Canning Kitchen by Amy Bronee on hand, I gathered up all the ingredients I needed from the garden and pantry and set to work! Five hours after making the first slice into a tomato, I was rewarded with this jar - four cups - of deeply flavourful, thick and rich tomato sauce. Does it seem like a bit of a rip off (when I started with 6 lbs of tomatoes)? Kind of, but at the same time I know that every last speck of effort that went into it - from the planting of the seedlings for the tomatoes, herbs, onions and garlic to the chopping and measuring to the final can - will be appreciated and can be tasted. This is no canned or jarred sauce, although they have their place. Nope, this jar is being saved for a spaghetti and meatball dinner or a homemade lasagna shared with loved ones. I owe the garden that much at least!

Also, don't freak out at the amount of garlic in this recipe. Yes, there are 6 cloves in that one jar. But they cook for so long at such a low temperature that they mellow and add a nuanced flavour to the recipe, without the sharp bite of the bulb. Egyptian onions are best equated to a cross between shallots and green onions, and you can certainly use shallots or even a white onion in this recipe instead. I left the tomato seeds in (we aren't picky) but you can mill your sauce if that's a no-go for you! No pressure canner? Freeze it! The options are endless, truly.

Spiced Superfruit Jam - Toast Topper #85

This Spiced Superfruit Jam is a decadent mix of blackberries, raspberries, cherries and blueberries softly spiced with a hint of cinnamon and cloves. With less sugar than standard jams, its a Toast Topper you can feel great about enjoying!

It feels good to be back in the canning kitchen again! I took a bit of a break last Summer (life and school got in the way) and now that the new year is almost upon us I'll be wrapping up my slew of canned goodies (that you can see on IG) as well. This year was a shockingly good one for Ontario produce, and I'd be a fool not to preserve it for a long winter's worth of pancakes, waffles and toast!

Like with most things, I prefer my jams not to be cloyingly sweet and want the fruity taste to come through full force. I have found two low-sugar pectins (the stuff that makes jam gel, if you don't make jam usually) that I love and buy them en masse when they're on sale. The first (and cheapest outright) is Bernardin (which may only be available in Canada, I can't find it on Amazon, but I have used Ball as well), which churns out about 6 cups of jam per packet. The second is Pomona's, which allows the batch size of various jams to be customized based on the amount of fruit you have. I've made as little as one jar of jam with it and as much as 12!

I also really enjoy playing with the flavours of my jams. Even though the fruit is always first and foremost, adding complementary flavours is a great way to add interest and an aspect not available from storebought preserves. I pulled out my copy of The Flavor Bible to help me this year, resulting in the addition of cinnamon and cloves to accent the tart-sweet berry notes. A spoonful of this jam tastes like a less tannic mulled wine, and I have it on good authority that a dab of it on sharp Cheddar topping a cracker is pretty darn good!

Major Grey's Chutney - Toast Topper #84

Major Grey's Chutney is full of spice with a delicate tropical undercurrent thanks to mango!

Chutney is definitely a go-to condiment in my household. Mom puts any incarnation of it in stir fries, with grilled meat and even steamed veggies and rice! I, on the other hand, enjoy it - just not to the extreme. In any case, we always have a jar or two on hand, and making up a batch is a great way to use up spices and various fruit and veggies laying about.

We had bought some mangoes on sale with the aim of making fruit trays for company, however (as always seems to happen) we overbought. Who could tell how many cubes one mango yielded? Anyways, I was given the remaining, almost-overripe mango to use in "whatever", and since I didn't have any pectin on hand, I knew jam was out. However, a quick perusal of the internet led me to Saveur, who had a recipe for one of the most famous chutneys out there - Major Grey's! I have no idea what the background of this condiment is other than it being an English - Indian hybrid served with aged cheese, but since it was full of ingredients we knew and liked I decided to give it a whirl.

One thing about making this - and any - chutney is that it is one of the most fragrant recipes you'll ever make. The heat blooms the spices, perfuming the kitchen for hours even after it's long been bottled. The vinegar is the first thing to make your eyes water, but the sweet, spicy and woodsy aromas soon rush in. The mango adds a subtle floral sweetness, but in the end it doesn't taste distinctly like the fruit - it is part of a greater whole. At any rate, this went exceptionally well in Mom's usual applications, as well as dolloped on crispbread over cream cheese and with Black Bread and old Cheddar. Next time mangoes go on sale, I may buy some extra just for this!

Chai Asian Pears

Asian Pears in Chai Syrup. Perfect for parfaits, porridge or spooning over ice cream for a spicy, warming treat.

I'm going to let you in on a secret - I hate Chai tea. I know, in the day of suave millennials enjoying spicy black tea in various forms, I just can't stand it! However, I am in the minority, and with a gaggle of coworkers who regularly drink Chai in the winter months I knew I had to make something for their Christmas baskets that they would appreciate.

Last year when I made these the first time, I had come into a glut of almost-overripe Asian pears thanks to a super-sale at the local Asian market. I had made carrot cake with some of them (using shredded pear in place of the pineapple) but was interested in seeing if they could be preserved too. I came across a recipe that looked promising by Jo Ebisujima and figured I'd give it a shot, swapping out the water for a strong mug of Chai. It worked, sort of - the flavour was good (the pears did something to mellow the Chai-ness) but the pears don't break down like "normal" pears and thus didn't create a jammy consistency. However, the syrup and infused, tender fruit was too good to pass up, so a quick re-branding later and I had four jars of a perfect fruit topping. My coworkers told me that it was fantastic on everything from ice cream to oatmeal, and one of them even ate it with a spoon straight up!

If you're looking for a unique preserve to add to your pantry, give these syrupy Asian pears a try. Versatile and darn delicious, it's hard to go wrong!

Orange Rhubarb Sauce

Orange Rhubarb Sauce is thick, tangy and perfect either on its own or over your favourite breakfast treat. Try it on pancakes or waffles!

Ah, rhubarb. In my backyard, we have no fewer than 6 plants strewn across various fence lines and corners, and quite often the bulk of the tart, stringy stalks are left to go to waste (one of the family members is against using them for food if you can believe that). However, the plant I call my own (and have for the last 13 years) is the grand daddy of the yard and gets put into a variety of tasty things for the shelf and the freezer. One application I hadn't really thought of for this vegetable was to make a "butter" with it, a la apple butter. Food in Jars posted a recipe that was not only a rhubarb butter, but with orange flavour too. The orange threw another curveball for me - would the tangy citrus clash with the sharper tartness of the rhubarb? Would it work well? There was only one way to find out!

Well, I learned a few things in this experiment - the rhubarb mixture does not get quite to spreadable consistency despite hours of cooking (and I was nervous about burning it after 2 hours of work). However, it was a thick applesauce consistency which was perfectly fine with me! Secondly, the orange flavour actually pairs exceedingly well with the rhubarb, and I amplified it by adding the orange zest to the pot as well. While the recipe didn't make a ton, it made the perfect amount for our family to use and appreciate, and I will definitely be making more! Mom claimed it was best on roasted chicken legs or pork loin, but I mixed it into oatmeal for a zip. It truly is versatile, and that gives it an extra push into the "win" category for me!

If you're looking for an alternative to the run of the mill fruit applications out there, give this orange rhubarb sauce a try. Who knows, maybe you'll finally have a reprieve from the strawberry rhubarb fad - just don't forget about those strawberries, they need love too!

Homemade Fermented Chili-Garlic Sauce

Homemade Fermented Chili-Garlic Sauce (aka homemade Sriracha). A little sweet, definitely spicy and with a little texture from the pureed peppers, this sauce has the perfect tang and "funk" from fermentation too.

It's no secret that I am a hot sauce queen (or is it freak?). At any given time I have at least 4 bottles of hot sauce (different types, obviously) in my fridge and tons of pickled peppers too. Wasabi may as well be ketchup for how much I use it! However, I have limited experience with making hot sauces myself, but with a garden full of various scorching hot peppers I figured it was time! Serious Eats had a fantastic recipe for making a version of Sriracha that intrigued me for a few reasons - one, it used up a whole load of the peppers (yay!) and two, it used fermentation, rather than cooking, to break down the peppers and create the most delicious and complex mixture of flavours.

Now, fermentation is easy - in the sense that you basically do none of the work. I chopped up the peppers in my food processor (for the fact that they didn't need to be uniform size and I also avoided touching them!) and scooped the whole mess into the jar, where it sat for just over a week. All I had to do was stir it once a day and watch the bubbles. Once fermentation was more or less complete, the vinegar and heat are applied and the works is pureed. The result was an absolutely perfect condiment, better than storebought and spicier too (which was definitely dependent on the peppers I used). I canned a few small jars and stuck what I would use immediately into a tiny glass bottle. As far as I can tell, the fermentation stopped after the heat and vinegar were applied, but then again the bottle disappeared in under a week!

Unfortunately, last year I did not have quite the stock (or heat) of peppers we usually do, and this year is likely going to be the same thanks to all the rain. Fingers crossed I'm back to spice world next year!

Apple Whiskey (or Rum) Conserve - Toast Topper #83

Apple Whiskey (or Rum) Raisin Conserve. Your morning toast never HAD it so good!

Okay, so first things first - I cannot believe I didn't post a single Toast Topper in all of 2018! I really have no real excuse - I cooked and canned (albeit not as much as previous years) but I simply have lacked the time and energy to put together blog posts like I used to. As some of you know (if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram) 2018 was a pretty busy year for me - and things show no signs of slowing down! I'm now three terms away from graduating with my degree in Sociology and will be undertaking my Masters of Teaching in September of next year... then after all that I'm planning a wedding! So for those of you who have stayed with me throughout this shift, thanks! For those of you who are new to this blog, welcome and I hope you can find some inspiration in the 1958 posts I've written since 2007.

The second thing I wanted to say is Happy St. Patty's Day! While it's unknown if I have any Irish in me at all (Grandma was adopted so she's a wild card) the fact remains that my ginger haired cousin and I have still been pegged as being from the Emerald Isle. Even if I'm not part leprechaun, I do enjoy the festivities around this holiday, especially the music and dancing! Of course, alcohol is a factor this time of year too (green beer, anyone?) but the Irish are also known for decent spirits, and after hearing my mom mention some Irish whiskey she had tried I remembered the apple whiskey I had bought last year but not opened. Why not give it a shot in a lovely, sticky-sweet preserve perfect for dolloping over butter on some hearty soda bread or scones?

This conserve is originally from Best of Bridge Home Preserving, but (of course) I took several liberties when it came to specific ingredients. I kept the sugar ratio the same, but since I was out of brown sugar (yes, I'm a baking heathen) I dolloped in some molasses for flavour and a touch of honey too, because I love honey! I had no apple juice, but I did have an apple flavoured herbal tea, which when brewed triple strength tasted strikingly similar to apple juice, so in that went too. Apple whiskey made it's way in place of the rum and I nixed the walnuts because nobody here likes them. All in all, the mixture was rich, thick, spiced, and perfectly sweet, with just enough apple and raisin texture running through it. A perfect Toast Topper for St. Patty's Day if you ask me!

Orange, Carrot and Rhubarb Preserve

Orange Rhubarb and Carrot Preserve tastes almost like the plum sauce you find in restaurants but with a hint of earthy flavour from homegrown carrots.

While I may not have been up to the usual glut of preserving this year, I did pull in an impressive haul of both rhubarb and carrots. Since there are few recipes that use a ton of either ingredient, I had to do some extra scouting, and what I found I couldn't have been happier with! The original recipe from my old church cookbook called this an "Orange Rhubarb Jam" but the consistency and taste weren't quite what I would call "toast toppable". Instead, what the concoction reminded me of most was a slightly winter-spiced plum sauce. Thick enough to stick onto potstickers, samosas or chicken fingers, thin enough to mix into a stir fry, it's sweet, sour, and just a touch earthy. In fact, the un-canned jars of this combination found their way into all sorts of savoury meals, both as an ingredient and as a condiment.

Whatever you call it, it's definitely a unique addition to the holiday table, and one I would feel 100% comfortable pairing with roasted veggies (like carrots! Or Brussels sprouts) as well as the main meat or protein (this is awesome over baked tofu too). Most importantly, it helped me use up my haul of heirloom carrots and rhubarb before they went bad in a way that didn't take up freezer space - after all, we had to shove a 15 lb turkey in there somehow in with all the other day-to-day items!

Beetroot Cranberry Conserve

Beetroot Cranberry Conserve is tangy, sweet and slightly earthy, not to mention a brilliant colour! A nice Chianti makes it a little savoury, perfect for the holidays.

It's almost Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada - where the heck did September go? While my mom is stocking up on turkey, stale bread, potatoes and lots of butter, I took on the task of making one of the cult favourite condiments on every holiday table - cranberry sauce.

What emerged from my kitchen last year - and soon to be this year as well - is a delicious sweet-tangy conserve with a hint of savoury flavour, but I do hesitate to really call it a cranberry sauce. For one, the only cranberries in this recipe are dried (although they were unsweetened) - the brilliant ruby colour is the result of heirloom beets from my garden and a glug or two of red wine. For added body and cohesion, I used apples (of which we always have a ton of this time of year). Of course, many of the standard "holiday" seasonings found their way into the pot, including the zest and juice of a blood orange. Taste tests along the way were quite rewarding, and leftovers that didn't fit in either the canning jars or the sauce bowl were eaten by house guests on crackers with cheese.

Speaking of canning, I highly recommend making at least this one batch, if not two, and preserving half for Christmas season. That way, you have a side dish done and you don't need to take up another stove burner in the middle of holiday feast-making!

Beetroot Cranberry Conserve
Makes 32 fl oz, 32 (2 tbsp) servings
3 apples, peeled and diced
1 lb (about 5 small) beets, peeled and diced
¾ cup dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened)
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup red wine (or cranberry juice for non-alcoholic)
Zest and juice of 1 large orange (I used a blood orange)
¼ tsp nutmeg
Pinch cloves
Pinch sea salt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a deep, heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thick and mounds on a spoon, about 1 hour.
3. Can 15 mins in a waterbath or freeze leftovers within 1 week.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 50.4
Total Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 11.3 mg
Total Carbs: 12.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.2 g
Protein: 0.3 g

Chili-Spiked Green Tomato Chutney

A ridiculous amount of chilies go into this green tomato chutney, with just enough sweet and sour to even the playing field.

I have yet to meet a Canadian homegrower or farmer who can finish the growing season with all ripe produce. At the end of the summer, we're often left with at least a few unripe peppers, cucumbers and squash - but nothing is so prevalent as the green tomato crop. Where I live, we have essentially three and a half months of decent growing weather outdoors, and when you grow from seed as I do even starting in March won't guarantee full production. Luckily, I've become pretty well versed in ways of using up those green tomatoes that will never ripen, no matter how much windowsill love you give them (if they've started to turn red, though, into the window box they go) - mincemeat (times three) and baked goods are definitely great, if surprising, sweet options. But what if you want to embrace the unripe fruit's tart and crunchy side?

Well, if you're like me, you turn to a different kind of preserve - chutney. I love making chutney almost as much as my mom loves eating it, which is no surprise given it's irresistible sweet-sour-savoury flavour. Last year when I canned up this batch, I added a punch of heat with the last of our garden's chilies - serranos and Thai bird peppers. Understandably, straight out of the pot this condiment is hellfire-like in spice (especially if you don't de-rib and seed the peppers), but I (and those I gave jars of this to) are glad to report, after hanging out in the pantry (if you can it) or fridge (without a waterbath) for at least a week, the burn mellows to a pleasant zip in amongst the sour and sweet. It has enough flavour to stand up to hearty creamy curries and meat dishes as well as create works of delicious art when mixed with plain rice or quinoa and a veggie or two. As I've mentioned before on this blog, my mom likes nothing more than mixing chutney into a plain stir fry, but she also dunks pita or naan into it as a side dish.

Strawberry Caramel Sundae Sauce

Strawberry Caramel Sundae Sauce is unlike anything you've topped ice cream with before! Don't stop at dessert though - those breakfast waffles are calling!

I don't know about you, but I cannot dream of eating vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt) without a sundae sauce of some kind. The craving only ever happens with vanilla, though, never another flavour such as chocolate or cookies n' cream. I guess I've never been able to get onto the vanilla-only bandwagon (sorry Dad!).

Anyways, a vanilla base is the perfect visual and gustatory canvas for all kinds of sauces, particularly berry-based ones. While I will always be partial to cherry topping (the best sundaes I ever had were made with warmed cherry pie filling out of a can... don't judge), this homemade strawberry one is pretty darn awesome. It's not simply a super-sweet coulis, a pie filling or even a melted jam like some other sundae sauces - this one starts off as a caramelized sugar syrup that gets blended with fresh strawberries, lemon juice and vanilla until thick, just sweet enough and still fruit-forward. It's natural tang makes it the perfect pairing to sweet ice cream (or even vanilla flavoured Greek yogurt), but it's sweet enough to warm and pour over morning waffles for an extra treat.

While I've provided instructions for canning this sauce for pantry storage, it does keep a good long while in the fridge as well, provided it's in a sterile jar. I have not tried freezing this, and probably wouldn't recommend it as the sugar structure may suffer. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

Chickpea Tikka Masala #SundaySupper

Chickpea Tikka Masala is made with homemade Masala sauce, spinach, mushrooms and carrots and finished with coconut milk for a rich, slightly spicy vegan lunch!

Mid-January is usually the time when meal preparation gets back into full swing. The holiday leftovers are gone (finally), and the routine is back to normal. Of course, I'm still trying to sleep off the holiday blahs, and while cooking meals for the week is still enjoyable, making sure they're balanced and healthy as well as quick and easy can be a challenge.

One of the options is, of course, to turn to convenience foods like pre-made sauces, grain dishes and entrees for a jump on dinner. Now, I have nothing against using well-made, jarred sauces on occasion - salt free tomato products (yes, including sauce), curry pastes and condiments like mustard are staples in our pantry. Canned beans are another thing we stock up on. But now that I have a pressure canner, I've taken pleasure in making my own pantry staples - yes, including beans. This way, I get the benefits of quick and easy convenience while controlling the quality and contents of what we're eating.

I wish I could take credit for the idea behind this dish, but that honour goes to Rebecca Lindamood from Foodie with Family. I received her book, Not Your Mama's Canning Book, for Christmas 2016 and last summer was able to cook up a few treats from it's pages including her canned beans and her
Tikka Masala Sauce. As I was using my garden produce, I used pencil hot and Thai chilies instead of the jalapeno she called for, and home roasted and pureed tomatoes. I canned up two pint jars at the time - the tomato harvest was pitiful - but it was good enough for the beginning of our winter blues.

With both chickpeas and sauce at the ready, it took moments to toss together a rich, spicy ragout perfect for spooning over long grain Basmati rice. It stashed in the fridge for a good week, and was even good cold - but when the weather is anything but tropical, a warm bowl of goodness truly hits the spot!

This week #SundaySupper is focused on healthy grain bowls - rice, quinoa, farro, whatever. From Tex-Mex to teriyaki, there's something for everyone!

• Asian Cauliflower Rice and Shrimp Bowls by Jersey Girl Cooks
• Chicken Fajita Quinoa Bowl by Pies and Plots
• Chickpea Tikka Masala by What Smells So Good?
• Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowl by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Greek Cauliflower Rice Bowl (Low Carb) by My Life Cookbook
• Healthy Crockpot Pulled Beef Rice Bowl by Hardly A Goddess
• Mediterranean Chicken Black Rice Bowl by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Quinoa Breakfast Bowl by Wholistic Woman
• Taco Rice Bowl by Life Tastes Good
• Teriyaki Shrimp Rice Bowl with Bok Choy by The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Tex Mex Caulirice Bowl by Our Good Life
• Thai Vegetable Quinoa Bowl by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Tuna Rice Bowl with Yum Yum Sauce by Sunday Supper Movement
• Vegetarian Bibimbap by Caroline’s Cooking

The Sunday Supper Movement is committed to bringing our readers delicious recipes that encourage them to gather and eat together around the family table. Search for your favorite ingredients on our Sunday Supper website. Also check out the Sunday Supper Pinterest boards for plenty more ideas and inspiration.