30 Nov Tue 2010
Have a Christmas Canning Exchange!
Here's a new/old idea (new to the canning newbies who are coming out of the woodwork these days!) Instead of a cookie exchange this Christmas, try a canning exchange!
I hosted one with our Master's Class students. Each person brought 12 jars of one special jam, chutney, etc. They had the jars nicely decorated, and the recipe tied to each jar. What a beautiful arrangement on our table after everyone unloaded their booty for trading!
I made a Thai Dipping Sauce. I traded for Basil & Garlic Vinegar, Banana Bread Jam, Strawberry and Honey Jam, Peach Salsa, and Asian Plum Sauce, just to name a few. I was SET for holiday entertaining!!
I used the vinegar to enliven a Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe on my indoor grill. The jams were a welcome addition to my Christmas morning buffet. The Plum Sauce was inhaled by my friends on New Year's Eve when I served grilled chicken skewers. And the salsa, well... I saved that for my husband and I to savor one quiet evening when the kids had gone back to school.
Don't forget to make sure the folks you invited to your canning exchange know how to can! Preserving is a serious business, and you don't want a "corner-cutter" to join your soiree, only to end up giving all your guests an unwanted illness!
www.jamandjellylady.com for more information about our products and classes. 2011 schedule coming soon. Email us to get on our waiting list.
I don't think that this post answers "What is a jelly?", but an earlier post in my blog does: "Canning Tip #11: What's the difference between a jam and a jelly?" does.
Basically, a jelly is a spread made primarily of fruit juice and sugar. A jam is actual crushed fruit. Jams are more nutritious and often more expensive to make because it requires the whole fruit, not just the juice.