[shroomgirl]

today was preservation day at the kitchen......I'd bought cases of produce for parties last weekend and needed to make sure the remainder was stored well......it's always interesting putting up "fruffy shtuff" most pickling books either overcook or just have recipes that don't sound right to me.

So today I had apricots, made jam with vanilla bean, orange zest and sugar....cooked the apricot quarters for 30 minutes or so until thick then jarred. Anyone remember adding apricot seeds (shelled) to their jam? I'm usually a low sugar Sure Jell fan but didn't have any so winged it.....all the recipes I came across said to peel the apricots. didn't, and it seemed ok.

Rhubarb....again jam, with sugar, orange zest and candied ginger bits....turned out really well, will probably pull the 2 gallons of raw frozen out and turn them into jam tomorrow.

Tomatoes....1/2 cs of plum tomatoes. I halved them then baked on low for 2 hours.....put 1/2 in the freezer the other half I put rosemary twigs and hot olive oil over the top a bit of basalmic and stuck them in the fridge....not sure if they needed more acid for a longer fridge life....thoughts?

baby artichokes....man oh man, they are my weekness and such a pain. $48 a cs, $300 labor ....just kidding, but sure seemed that way. Anyway. I blanched them, froze 1/2 the batch then put lemon slices in the bottom of a jar and then the artichokes alittle salt then hot oil.....again I'm unsure if the 1/2 lemon will be enough to stablize the chokes. thoughts?

Beets...boiled, peeled then fragrant hot vinegar over a couple jars....two others I processed and have a feeling that the beets will be way over cooked.

Several other chefs in town are pickling....it's fun to see what everyone is doing. Josh at American Place pickled white asparagus, he's making mayhaw jelly today (I swear this 29 year old guy has the soul of a grandmother....a southern one at that.) He comes up with old world foraged produce that is rare even where it's found.
Andy White at Balabans is pickling cukes, cauliflower with turimeric, onions that are pink....saurkraut, peppers....he's pickling corn beef.....
Justine Keimon at Franco's is pickling beets and kholrabi....really good spice mix.

Some are mixing a higher percentage of water with viniager.....I usually go the other way. So, who out there is preserving? How are you going about it?