Recipe List 15.07.13

The weather here in Dunedin is freeeeezing!! Last night and today it has been windy and with snow and sleet showers. This kind of weather has inspired me to go a little old school and get in the kitchen to make preserves. Our grandmothers had it right when they spent winter in the kitchen prepping delicious sauces, jams and chutneys as it really is one of the warmest places to be and it gives you lots of delicious things for the rest of the year.

I have also been inspired to do this for another reason. With my move to real food, I have been trying to avoid foods with lots of added ingredients and chemically sounding names. I don't really find it hard to avoid the processed snack foods, but an area in which I do find these ingredients harder to avoid is with sauces and spreads. I love having chutneys and sauces around to add flavour to salads and sandwiches etc. so I know that if I can spend a little bit of time making some at home I can have sauces and chutneys with completely real ingredients.

The first thing that I am going to have a go at is some chutney. I have a huge load of apples as they are really cheap at the moment and I have been saving up empty glass jars. This apple and raisin chutney doesn't look too tricky so I will be giving this a go.

Who doesn't love some ketchup to have with delicious homemade fries and burgers etc. This ketchup uses tinned tomatoes which are cheap and readily available and makes enough that I should have ketchup for a few months.

Lastly, I am planning on getting onto my christmas presents a few months early by making these fruit cheeses. I think I will get some pretty teacups to put them in and I will keep a couple for myself to have with cheese platters etc.

Looks like I have a warm couple of days ahead of me in the kitchen getting some processed free preserves all sorted.

Keep warm and let me know what you think of these recipes!