The one exception to this was the canning. This year, knowing that the dark dismal winter would eventually descend upon us (and indeed it has), I decided to do everything I could to save a bit of summer/fall for those dismal months that follow the holidays.

So, without further ado, I give you the year in jars:

Kiwi-Lemon Marmalade: You’ve already heard about this one in gory detail. Suffice to say that it has brightened many a dull morning and will hopefully continue to do so until next February when I will try to get the wheels on the wagon a bit sooner and make a batch of proper Seville orange marmalade.

Pesto v1: In Montreal at least, this is the time of the year when you can buy giant bouquets of basil at the market for less than the cost of a single ziplocked packet of 6 leaves at the grocery store. They are impossible to pass up, along with the baskets and baskets of gorgeous ripe tomatoes. While it is tempting to eat them as they are, raw and fresh with nothing but a dash of salt and olive oil, I managed to resist long enough to make a couple batches of pesto, frozen in icecube trays to brighten the pastas of days to come.

Pesto v2.0: The CSA gave us garlic scapes. More garlic scapes than you could shake a stick at, so, I threw them in the blender with some oil, salt, and pepper, and froze the result in jars, to be used at a time when anything naturally green would be a welcome addition to the meal.

Plum Jam: The market is overwhelming at this time of year. There are giant bins of plums, grown locally, being sold by the pound and I cannot say no. This is a minimal effort jam. No straining, no pectin, nothing fancy. The result is a simple spread that is perhaps a touch runny but makes up for it with its purple hue and summery flavour. Next year, it’s peaches and nectarines.

Tomato Sauce: Like the basil, the tomato sauce project was inspired by seeing the bushels of tomatoes at the market, and knowing that in 3 months time, they would be gone and the pink tennis balls would return. Tomato sauce making is quite an endeavour. It probably warrants a post of its own. If you’re considering it though, I recommend procuring a copy of “Les Tomates en Conserve” a how-to dvd put together by some Montrealers who’ve been at this for a while.

Tomato Chutney: All the flavours of fall: apples, peppers, raisins, onions, and tomatoes, captured in a jar to adorn many a cheddar slice and tortiere in the months to come. (Be warned, this recipe makes well over a dozen 1/2 pint jars).

Quince Jam: Quinces (or coings en francais) were featured in the fall issue of Edible Toronto. Although they are mostly grown in Europe, the climate in southern Ontario is well suited for them. Alas, I was unable to find local quinces (mine came from California), and my jam didn’t turn ruby red as described in the article. It did however, have a lovely floral note to it, good for topping both toast and pork tenderloins.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade: The arrival of new citrus options is cold comfort for the disappearance of the tomatoes and other fall harvests, but it is hard to ignore the golden yellow glow of Meyer lemons in the grocery store. On a whim, I buy two bags, and begin researching what to do with them. The preferred method for dealing with them in this quantity is of course, marmalade. Meyer lemon marmalade is a one day operation: their skins are so thin and tender that they do not need to be soaked, peeled, or preprocessed in anyway, and the pips and pith, thin as it is, usually contain enough pectin to set the whole batch. This batch was no exception.