Last Fall when living in Manhattan, I experienced fresh concord grapes for the first time and was dazed by the naturally jelly consistency and supersweet interior. I probably went through five pounds a week, so you can imagine my excitement when grapes started popping up at the farmers market here in San Francisco. Preserve the season's bounty by making homemade jam. A few serving suggestions: Read more

There's no better way to celebrate Spring than with fresh fruit cocktails. But if your farmers market still isn't turning up Spring berries, or you don't have ripe stone fruits on hand, there's another way to incorporate nature's candy into your cocktails: try stirring in your favorite homemade or artisanal jam. I can't take credit for this ingenious idea — it comes from Madam Geneva, a Read more

Taking time to enjoy some tea and toast is one of my favorite morning rituals. Some days I just put butter on my toast, and other days I want to mix it up with honey or jam. As evidenced by the plethora of options inside my fridge door, I seem to never have enough toppings! The problem is, when we slather on one of our favorite spreads, we're also adding additional calories, fat, and sugar to our Read more

Since I'm serving some savory treats at my preserving party, I also plan to offer one sweet treat. Not just any dessert, but a crumbly, fruity pastry that makes the most of last year's blueberry preserves: blueberry cookie bars. They are simple to put together and if any remain when the party ends, I'll pack them up and offer them as favors to my guest. We'll also be making one sweet jam Read more

In the Winter, I always love to invite my friends over for a cookie swap or edible gift-making party. However, I've never done something like this during the warmer months — until now. Inspired by a new Williams-Sonoma book, The Art of Preserving, I'm hosting a canning party and I suggest you do the same. First select a date — preferably a relaxed time, like Sunday afternoon — then decide Read more

Our very own FabSugarUK attended some nuptials and brought back an edible gift idea that's brilliant. She had this to share in the Wedding Talk group in the YumSugar Community. I attended a wedding a few weeks ago and couldn't resist sharing these gorgeous place settings. The bride had made a pot of jam for all the guests and had names printed on them. They were then used as place settings! They Read more

Here, the OnSugar blog Smörgasbørd teaches us how to make pepper jelly. It would make a wonderful edible gift. All the Pepper Jelly talk in Kitchen Goddess gave me a hankering for some of Nigella's Chilli Jam. So I made a batch over the weekend. I've never made anything like this before because, well, I'm lazy and I assumed it would take all day. But it was dead easy and so delicious. Here's Read more

Sweet edible gifts not your thing? Then how about something savory? Even better, how about something bacony? Inspired by Top Chef's Kevin, I decided to try making bacon jam. I'm glad I did, this bacon jam is to die for. Seriously, it's amazing. It's so good that I could only give one jar away. The other jar I gifted to myself. It's smoky, sweet, porky, and spicy. A long, slow cook ensures that Read more