preserving summer

Although I know we still have a month of summer left, August has been so mild that I sometimes feel like autumn is already here.  The past couple of weeks we've been pickling and preserving the summer's harvest.  I'm really happy with our first vegetable garden, we've had lots of cherry tomatoes, zucchini, patty pan, runner beans, jalapenos, and the bell peppers are just starting to ripen as well. 

Even though this summer is still in full swing I've been keeping a list for next year's garden - now that I know the growing environment of our yard I want to make some more beds for produce, as well as add a strawberry pyramid and some gooseberries.

This summer I got Marisa McClellan's book Food in Jars.  In it she has a lot of great small batch recipes (most produce 4 pints) for preserving year round.  I've already marked a bunch of recipes to make when the air and apples start getting crisp and cider is pouring freely.  Yesterday I made her cantaloupe and vanilla jam and its taste reminds me of eating pure nectar.  Its color is not so shabby either.

Cantaloupe and Vanilla Jam
from Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars

2 1/2 cups chopped peeled cantaloupe (one small or half a large cantaloupe)
1 1/2 cups/300 grams granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (3 ounce/85ml) packet liquid pectin

Prepare a boiling water bath and 3 half-pint/250 ml jars. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and simmer over very low heat. (* I use my Mom's method of processing both the jars and lids in a large enamel processing pot)

Combine the cantaloupe pulp, sugar, vanilla bean seeds and scraped pod in a nonreactive pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the lemon zest, juice and the packet of liquid pectin. Return to a vigorous boil. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, until the bubbles look thick.

Remove the pot from the heat and ladle the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.