2025 - So far this year I have preserved…

[MelanieSW]

Blackberry and chocolate
tell me more please

I haven't tried it yet, but fancy something a bit different rather than the plain old jam again. Found this recipe which uses blackberries, apples, dark chocolate and sugar. All of which I have .
https://tinandthyme.uk/2014/09/choco...should/#recipe

Blackberry
Relish. Could I use blackcurrant instead of red ?

I don't see why not! It hadn't occurred to me as I was focused on using the red currants, but have just checked and seen quite a few very similar recipes with blackcurrants and red onions.

[MelanieSW]

Thanks mothhawk and bramble. I haven't heard of using rhubarb leaves for burnt pans, but am curious now and may try it the next tim if I still have leaves at hand.
This pan eventually got clean using a dishwasher tablet and boiling it for a bit, followed by a baking soda scrub to get the remaining bits off. Annoyingly the website I consulted also recommended boiling with chopped up lemons, so I wasted 2 perfectly good lemons first with hardly any improvement.

[Mark Rand]

Pickled half a jar of gherkins today. More are brining at the moment.

[Nicos]

Barkeepers friend is made with the same chemical which is in rhubarb…and that is an amazing cleaner.

As for the jam making, I’ve also added cocoa powder to raspberry jam and that was lovely. Not tried actual chocolate though…maybe that would be better?

Here’s an admission….I made some marmalade the other day from some wrinkly mandarin oranges from the bottom of our second larder fridge, and a couple of lemons from the freezer. Only made one large jar but when I came to jar it, it suddenly started to caramalize…so I put it in the jar sharpish. …Then had to chip , then soak it off the spoon, ladle, funnel and pan I’m wondering if it’s set like concrete in the jar
If I can get it out of the jar then I bet it would be lovely in a bread and butter pudding.

[Nicos]

Two large mirabelle clafoutis - mosty for freezing.

[Mark Rand]

Used the air fryer to dehydrate about a kg of tomatoes.

[Peanut]

Used the air fryer to dehydrate about a kg of tomatoes.

I dehydrated some cut in half, cherry toms in my dehydrator a few years ago, but they took forever and I haven't bothered since.
What temp did you put them at in your air fryer, how long did they take and, were they cut at all? Thanks
I could really do with dehydrating some stuff this year.

[Nicos]

First 2kg of windfall apples cooked down, and 5
muffin cases of roasted rhubarb.
Also some cooked down rhubarb…

[Peanut]

2 big jars of cucumber pickle.

[Mark Rand]

I dehydrated some cut in half, cherry toms in my dehydrator a few years ago, but they took forever and I haven't bothered since.
What temp did you put them at in your air fryer, how long did they take and, were they cut at all? Thanks
I could really do with dehydrating some stuff this year.

I did them at 65°C. The first batch had the bigger than cherry sized tomatoes halved and took about 12 hours. For the second batch I quartered or eighthed (???) the bigger ones. that batch was done in 7 hours or less.

I tried chillies last year, but forgot to save any seeds. They don't work after they've been 'cooked'...

[Nicos]

4kg of halved plums in the freezer

[Peanut]

Thanks Mark Rand

I made 7 jars of greengage jam today.

I wish I had a bigger freezer or one that I could dedicate to homegrown produce and festive foods

[MelanieSW]

Made 2 l of apple juice with the steam juicer, and 4 jars of apple puree with the leftover mush.

[Bren In Pots]

Rhubarb, orange and ginger jam.
Baked rhubarb, orange and honey frozen for porridge toppers.

Adding to my list
Pickled Cucumbers
Roasted tomatoes

[Peanut]

2 more 400g and 2x 340g of cucumber pickle, plus a jar of leftover vinegar mix for dressings.

I also cooked down a couple of kilos of cherry toms yesterday, whizzed them up and froze them for using later as sauces or soup.
Now my freezer is packed and I still have 4 more kg of cherry toms and bags and bags of beans, no idea what I am going to do with all those!