PRESERVING MAD!

I've always wanted to replace those horrible mass produced ketchups and chutneys that we buy from time to time and decided recently to have a go.

My ever wonderful fiancé brings home some really odd things from time to time when I send him to the shops for some bananas and the like. This time he came home with some Seckel Pears which we both presumed would taste pretty much like any other kind of pear. If you can imagine biting into a potato which vaguely has a pear taste then you're quite close to the taste we got when we tried on of the pears. We weren't impressed but we had 4 more that seemed a huge waste if we just threw them away and as I had been perusing some chutney recipes the week before I wondered if they would be OK to use in some kind of pear chutney.

I eventually found a Spiced Pear Chutney and gave it a bash however I cooked it in my bread machine which can also make jam and it was a bit of a mistake. While it cooked OK, it didn't reduce the liquids enough so I had to put it in a pan on the stove to reduce the liquid further. I think I reduced it a little too far as when we opened it it wasn't as 'saucy' as I would have imagined but it was absolutely amazing with a little bit of organic cheese.

I was hooked!

The next day we were out and about and my local greengrocer had two for £1 on absolutely enormous Mangoes and they were screaming mango chutney at me so how could I refuse?

I was so amazingly pleased with how this turned out and I know it's supposed to be left to mature but we tried some out the next day and it was absolutely fantastic! We made two jars and one kilner jar is going to be stored and left to mature but it felt so good to me making things that we would normally buy but these had no e numbers, emulsifiers, hidden extra salt and sugar and all the other things I don't want in my food.

It was also good fun spending time in the kitchen with my fiancé laughing and cooking together which I enjoy greatly. Before we knew it we had the next few chutneys planned and several other things that we would like to have around the kitchen.

Well, tonight we have a stack of lovely little kilner style jars sitting in our kitchen cooling and maturing. We made some pickled Garlic which is my fiancé's favourite snack, Sweetcorn Relish which I adore, Tomato Ketchup and some Carrot Chutney which is an Indian Chutney which sounds interesting. It took some doing and our flat now smells like a pickle factory but it was so worth it and I am really exhausted but pleased in equal measure.

I would have loved to have grown all the ingredients for these chutneys and pickles etc but I don't currently have a garden here at the flat so it had to be shop bought and organic as the next best option. It may not be the perfect option but it's better than mass produced so we're happy.

Last but not least I made some Limoncello which I absolutely adore but it is so damn expensive. It's basically Lemon zest steeping in Vodka with some simple sugar syrup in it to give it some 'mouth feel' and sweetness. Despite it only being made this evening it has such an amazingly punchy, sunshine yellow colour, I decided to make an Orange and a Lime version as well. What could be more mood lifting in the bleak mid-winter than a glass of Limoncello with it's amazingly vibrant colour and lemon flavour?

I'm sure there will be more to come in the next few weeks and I'll get around to publishing the recipes I've used soon!