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I love cranberry orange relish because you do not need any additional pectin. Use 1 bag fresh crans, juice and zest of 2 oranges, enough water added to the oj to equal 1 cup liquid total, 1 cup sugar. Boil together until the crans begin to pop, then lower to a simmer. The longer you simmer it, the thicker your end product will be but there is no need for any pectin!

Once the jam is made, ladle into sterilized jelly jars, seal and process in boiling water bath canner 10 minutes at sea level. I lived at 7000 feet and had to boiling water can everything 2x the length of time I did at sea level.

Believe it or not, the recipes that come in the Ball Canning Jar box are really great!

If you can get a copy at a used book site, check out Putting Food By. It's out of print now but worth seeking out. It's like an encyclopaedia of canning. The old Joy Of Cooking had a great canning section but I'm not sure if it's included in the newly released Joy.

I love to hear things like this. My mother tells me to get out of the kitchen and stop collecting jars. The canning bug is wonderful. time consuming and makes you buy glass jars of all sizes and shapes. Soon you will be able to tell a Kerr jar from a Mason jar from a Ball jar and what year it was made.
Stick to the high acid and jams for beginners. Pickling is fun. Making your own pickles is a real atta-boy. I make fresh pickles about 3 times a year and people just love them. You can pickle many things. Experiment.
get the Ball canning book it is over a hundred and twenty five years of experience in one thin book.

Try my recipe for wine jelly. It's really foolproof and makes a great gift. Or keep it all and eat it on Ritz crackers with cream cheese! If you want it seasonal, try my variation for "mulled wine jelly."

Dominic
the zen kitchen

Thank you, Dominic! I'm so excited to try that, I would never have thought to make wine jelly.

Jerzee said: "My mother tells me to get out of the kitchen and stop collecting jars."

Tell her to bite her tongue! I'm always in search of jars and I stockpile them like they were treasure.

Don't be afraid to can your favorite BBQ sauces as Christmas Gifts!

Thank you Dominic for the wine jelly link! Can't wait to try it.

Lil, care to share the cranberry recipe?

I think that canning is part of food love. When someone you know gives you something they made by hand themselves that is the best gift.
No one hardly ever gives me anything they hand made anymore (gee I wonder why) even though the Hubby and I love it. But every so often a fellow canner will bring along their wares and I rejoyce in the canning bug.

Thanks, Lil!