Friday, December 23, 2011 1:45 PM

Don’t you just love summer fruits…like juicy, succulent peaches, nectarines and apricots bursting with sunshine and flavour or raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, sharp and delicious? You just know they’re good for you! Why not preserve their goodness?

Giving it a go is the big thing – it’s not hard and here’s some easy tips for success and a couple of ideas for jam recipes as well as how to use them. Imports now mean that we can get most fruits all year round, but mostly there’s nothing like the home grown varieties in their own season. Now is the time to put the  effort in to preserving the best of our summer fruit, which will soon be at an end. That way you will be able to enjoy them in one way or another throughout the winter months.

Most fruits are easy to preserve either by freezing or bottling. Bottling  has long been a tradition in New Zealand…our mothers and grandmothers would be horrified at the thought of not filling up the shelves with peaches, plums, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, not to mention tomatoes.

You can also make jams  to use in cooking or as a spread on a piece of hit buttered toast over the winter months.  Apricot and Apple Jam, Cherry Jam and Raspberry and Honey Jam make the most of summer fruit.

If you’re a chutney nut, Apricot and Cardamom Chutney, Peach and Ginger Chutney, Tomato and Nectarine Chutney and Quick Blackberry Chutney can all be made at this time of year, while supplies are plenty and the fruit is ripe and sweet.

Check my Tips on Preserving, if you aren’t sure what to do. You can also slice fruit like peaches, nectarines and apples, cook them lightly with a little honey or sugar to make syrup and then put them in containers in the freezer. Berry fruits can be treated the same way or frozen “free flow”. Blueberries are particularly good to freeze just as they are, ready to come out and make sauces, muffins and desserts whenever you need them.