🫙🍑Preserving Summer (and My Sanity) One Jar at a Time
Published 9 days ago • 2 min read
Candyflosslife
What does life balance have in common with jam jars?
The end of summer always makes me a little nostalgic — fruit everywhere, messy kitchens, and the creeping thought that autumn’s just around the corner. Between work travel, family bits, and dog walks, life’s been feeling like a jumble.
Chicken with plums & hoisin sauce with broccoli
This week I plan to press pause, tidy the chaos, and try to savor the season - in food, and in life.
Foraged Blackberries 🫐 I don’t think anything makes me happier than coming home with purple-stained fingers and a basket of fruit I’ve picked myself. The hedgerows on our walks are bursting with blackberries (Nala knows the ripe ones from the tart ones) and suddenly the kitchen smells like jam. I made a reel of my peanut butter & foraged jam toast if you’d like to watch, but honestly? Jam is one of the easiest things to pull together. My base recipe is as simple as it gets:
🍓 Equal parts fruit + preserving sugar 🍓 A knob of butter for shine 🍓 A squeeze of lemon for balance 🍓 Rolling boil, 6 minutes — that’s it!
Done. Pots of summer sunshine, ready for toast, porridge, or spooning straight from the jar (don’t judge). The same process for strawberry jam too!
🍑 Sticky Chicken & Plums Of course, not everything has to be sweet. Plums do the most wonderful savory turn, too. My favorite at the end of the summer is a traybake (also make this on the grill pan) of chicken with plums and Hoisin. It has garlic, ginger and Hoisin sauce (I love Chinese 5 spice flavors). The plums collapse into this sticky jammy sauce that clings to everything and makes the kitchen smell like comfort. Served with rice and barely crunchy broccoli, it feels a bit indulgent, but it’s still packing in plants. And right now, English Victoria plums (my favorite seasonal fruit) are just begging to be eaten.
Chicken with plum & Hoisin sauce over rice and broccoli
Life’s Messy, Isn’t It? ✨ On top of all that, real life rolls on. I’ve been bouncing between work (travelling for work is overrated, 😆hello again, Germany), dog mum duties, and helping Iggi overhauling her bedroom. We drove our lounge old (but still so lovely) lamp and some bits to her flat last week — she’s brilliant at upcycling, so every corner looks chic without spending much. Meanwhile, I’m now on the hunt for a tall floor lamp for myself. Something sturdy and good for reading. If you’ve got a suggestion, 🙏, drop me a link in an email.
Cans of beans and pulses in my kitchen cupboard
Gut-Healthy Staples 🫘 One thing that helps me feel a little less all-over-the-place is opening my cupboard and seeing jars of beans and pulses stacked up. It sounds silly, but a stocked pantry is grounding. I’ve been thinking of doing a “gut health grocery shop” feature soon — the tins and staples I always reach for when life’s busy but I still want to hit my 30 plants a week. Would that be useful?
Sneak Peek 🥒 I’m planning to share more fermented veg recipes on the blog soon (hands up if you’ve got a glut of cucumbers staring at you right now 🙋♀️). In the meantime, you can browse all the fermented recipes I’ve already shared — they’re a great way to get in those extra plants and give your gut some love.
Your Turn: If you could preserve just one fruit or veg from summer, what would it be? And are you thinking about making jams, sauces or canning? Hit reply and let me know — I love hearing what you’re cooking and storing away. Or just reply with what you'd like to see me making!
