Tuesday, December 2, 2014

...For the Love...

 ...Of summertime preserving...

Summer is upon us, dear friends!  And the arrival of this lovely sunny season means many happy and pleasurable hours spent in the kitchen, turning abundant blessings of fruit and vegetables into delicious, homemade preserves, pickles and chutneys for the rest of the year!

 Homemade Pickled Onions ~ November 2014

Preserving is a favourite pastime of mine...  I love the sweet, hot smell of boiling fruit permeating the house...the spicier combination of ingredients for fruit chutney...whole fruit boiling until just tender in a light sugar syrup to be stored away until wintertime...  Hmmm.... 

I feel a bit like Ma and her girls in those dear and treasured stories of their pioneer lives in the Little House series...

Apricot Chutney, December 2014

Often our entire day is spent in the kitchen, and we love it...  We work together as a team to reach a certain goal and this makes the process (and the end product) that much more enjoyable...

And homemade is always special, of course...  We love giving our preserves as gifts to dear friends and family members, particularly over the festive season.  There is something so satisfactory in the giving of something that took you time and effort to make, isn’t there...?

 Homemade strawberry jam made from our own organic strawberries ~ what a delight!

Whenever possible, I make pretty labels out of scraps of craft paper, or I simply use a whole dried chilli for our delicious tomato chilli jam or an orange slice to decorate a jar of marmalade, just to add that extra special touch...   

Do you enjoy preserving in your home?
How do you present your gifts of homemade goodies...?

~ Blessings ~

Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

12 comments:

Bethany Carson said...

The strawberries and strawberry jam look delicious! (And to have summer just starting sounds wonderful!) My family does a lot of canning. If we want to give a jar away we just tie a ribbon around the lid.

Kelly-Anne said...

Thank you, Bethany! I am so happy you stopped by today:) I wish I could send you some summer, but enjoy your white winter - of that I am pretty jealous! How lovely you and your family also make your own preserved goodies - and ribbon is just so pretty and always adds that special touch to anything! Have a blessed evening!

Stephanie said...

Hi Kelly-Anne! Oh my, that strawberry jam looks divine! I think I could eat it by the spoonful :)

I wanted to thank you for the delightful visit to my blog. It's always a joy meeting other Sisters in Christ. I am a new follower and I eagerly look forward to visiting your blog again.

May you have a beautiful week! Hugs and blessings to you!

Kelly-Anne said...

Dear Stephanie, thank you for blessing me with your sweet visit today! I was so thrilled to find your blog as I share many of your interests and I just love roses, too! And I also looove to meet other sisters in Christ as - it is so encouraging and a wonderful blessing! Thank you again and have a lovely, lovely week further! Love, Kelly-Anne

Sarah Violet said...

I like making pickles! I did over 60 jars this fall. I even got a bit crazy and pickled some grapes, tomato's, celery, and some other unusual stuff. I was not brave enough to try any of it myself, but my one younger sister liked the grapes.

Kelly-Anne said...

Oh Sarah! You made me giggle at that! Aren't younger siblings just wonderful?! And mine are so loyal too! Have a blessed week, dear:)

JES said...

I LOVE your pictures Kelly-Anne! They are so beautiful and inspiring :) I am a preserving enthusiast myself. There is art and purpose to filling a pantry. Thank you also for linking this up to the Art of Home-Making Mondays! Please join in again this week if possible :)

JES said...

P.S. I am pinning this! :)

Kelly-Anne said...

Thank you, JES! I am so glad you visited today! Yes, I agree with you... I love the satisfaction preserving produce brings:). Hope you have a beautiful and blessed week!

Kelly-Anne said...

:-)

Tania Pelletier said...

It all looks so good! I have never tried canning anything but your post sure makes me want to give it a try!

Tania

Kelly-Anne said...

You are so kind, Tania! How sweet of you to stop by today! Hugs, Kelly