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How-To with Nicole: Preserving

by in Main on

I love me some mason jars. Useful, versatile and cute, these glass jars often show up in the most unexpected places but seem to fit in everywhere. However, let’s not forget why we started using mason jars in the first place. As summer winds down and we start bunkering down for winter (I’ll be the first to admit, even an inch of snow means I’ll be hibernating), we begin the process of canning little pieces of summer to get us through the cold months.

In today’s How-To, I’ll be covering the basics of preserving fruits. So grab your apron, pick your peaches, and let’s get started! By the end of this post, you’ll be ready to make your own canned goods. And if you feel so compelled, you can even offer them to weddings guests as a favor!

You will need:

-Your choice of fruit
-Mason jars, sterilized
-1 pot to boil fruit and liquid
-1 large pot for water bath
-Wire rack for the bottom of the water bath
-Jar rack or jar lifter
-Ingredients to preserve (This changes based on your recipe or if you choose to make jams or jellies)

Image Credit: Steep Street via Green Wedding Shoes

What you do:

1. Pick the right mason jar. They should be made for canning, so buying Mason or Ball jar is ideal. Make sure there are no cracks or knicks in the jars. This can cause them to break or seal improperly.

2. Wash your mason jars well. Sticking them in the dishwasher is a good idea, since the heat and water pressure ensure that contaminates are removed. You don’t want that in your food! When they’re washed, try not to touch the inside of the can or the inside of the lid. You can also boil the jars. Make sure they stay hot so they don’t break when you pour your preserves inside.

3. Grab your fruit! Hardier fruits like apples and peaches can be preserved really well, as opposed to soft fruits like plums and figs. Although, any fruit can be preserved if you’re up for the challenge! Peel the fruit and remove the core and stem. Then, cut it the way you prefer — whether into chunks or wedges.

4. Follow your recipe here. Most of them call for you to boil the fruit in water and sugar so that it forms a syrup. You can adjust the amount of sugars and other spices you use based on your taste.

5. When you’re done making your syrup, pour the mixture carefully into your mason jars. Leave about a quarter of an inch of space on top, so the jars will seal correctly. Keep in mind that some recipes might call for a different amount of space.

Image credit: Josh Goodman via Style Me Pretty

6. Place the lid and band on top of your jar and tighten it (but not too tight!).

7. Place the jars in the water bath. Make sure they’re sitting on top of a wire rack so they don’t break while processing. There should be an inch or two of water about the mason jars.

8. Process your jars for the length of time recommended by your recipe.

9. After the processing time is up, carefully remove your mason jars from the water bath with a jar lifter. Let them sit and cool down, then wipe them down with a towel so the lids don’t rust. As the jars cool, the lids should seal with a “pop.” If you don’t hear a pop, then your fruit isn’t preserved correctly and needs to be refrigerated and used soon.

10. Label your jars and store them in a cool, dry place. Your preserves will last up to a year if preserved and stored properly. Just enough time to enjoy them until summer comes again!

Next time, learn how to pickle your veggies!

Anything you’d like to know how to do? Leave a comment or email me!

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
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Ah, the cupcake. Sweet, petite, and delicious. Either as cake’s easy-to-serve stand-in or as its counterpart in dessert-scrumptiousness, we love the cupcake.

Image credits: Aspect Photography via Dandelion and Grey.

For Southern Weddings’ first Do-It-Yourself project, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate other than featuring something sweet like the cupcake wrapper. Aside from being plain cute, they are so easy to make!

Image credits from left to right: Jose Villa via Green Wedding Shoes, Rowell Photography via Style Me Pretty

Here’s what you’ll need:

The cupcake wrapper template
-Scrapbooking paper in whatever pattern/color you choose. A card stock weight holds its shape better. (2 or 3 liners will fit to a sheet, depending on the size)
-Scissors
-Crafting scissors (optional)
-Cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes.

And here is how you do it:

Any ideas or things you would like to see done? E-mail me or comment below!

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
6 Comments
  1. avatar Rachel reply

    I love you for posting this.

  2. avatar Tweets that mention DIY with Nicole: Patterned Cupcake Wrappers « Southern Weddings Magazine — Topsy.com reply

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marissa Kloess, Katharine Waterman. Katharine Waterman said: DIY readers rejoice! @Nicoleayang introduces SW's first-ever Do It Yourself project with a lesson in cupcake holders: http://su.pr/2pz6T0 […]

  3. avatar Rachel – theWeddingVine reply

    Such sweet cupcakes!!

  4. avatar DIY with Nicole: Monogrammed Mason Jars « Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] hope you enjoyed our second DIY! If you missed it, you can see the first one here: DIY cupcake wrappers. If you have any DIY ideas or a project you would like to see done, e-mail me! xo Nicole […]

  5. avatar Sweet Sundays : Love wrapped in lace « weddingberry reply

    […] Source […]

  6. avatar Inspire. Palette #96: Fresh Blooms » Anastasia Marie reply

    […] via This Modern Romance for Ruche; these fabric swatches via Fellow Fellow; and these cupcakes via Southern Weddings. POSTED IN: […]

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

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M <3’s H (sweet vintage sign courtesy of Sweet Peas and Seashells) and we <3 Hillary + Matt’s indoor reception at the Owatonna Country Club. Yes, that is an escort card make from Scrabble letters – too cute! The couple served a simple flower-topped cake from Valerie Mullenbach (yum!), proving less is sometimes so much more. (Still loving that lovely cardigan, Hillary!) For more from H + M’s Minnesota wedding, visit Photogen’s post on the big day.

Written with love by Katharine
5 Comments
  1. avatar Katie reply

    I love the type block letters as well as the corks in the jar! Adorable. Thanks for sharing!

  2. avatar Tweets that mention Details: Hillary + Matt, Part II « Southern Weddings Magazine — Topsy.com reply

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Katharine Waterman, Lori Solomon and T. Lipp, Southern Weddings . Southern Weddings said: Yep, that is an escort card make from Scrabble letters! Thanks for sharing, @eliesajohnson! http://su.pr/5wWWQG […]

  3. avatar Lucy reply

    I love the Scrabble name pieces! Very cute idea I may have to steal, the fiancee and I duke it out over some Scrabble!

  4. avatar Kristin Nicole reply

    I love the combination of handmade details with a very classic setting overall. Very sharp.

  5. avatar Monthly Round-Up :: January « Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] Definitely my pick. (More here + here!). Katharine chose Hilary’s peach cardigan (here + here), while Whitney also fell for shoes, though this time, they were perfectly pink Kate Spades (here + […]

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

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