Preserving fruits and berries

I try to take one cooking class a month to keep myself learning new recipes, tips and to keep myself inspired. But lately I've been falling a little bit behind. So, in efforts to catch up I recently took a class with local chef Laura Moore at the Thrifty Foods Tuscany Village. Laura Moore is owner of Good for you Gourmet - a whole foods personal chef and catering service.

The class was all about Fall fruits and berries and we learned about preserving the goodness of the late summer harvest with cobblers, sugar-free jams and fruit leather. Laura has been kind enough to share the class handout with all the recipes, including her recipe for Sugar-Free Blueberry Jam. I've always enjoyed canning and making jams, chutneys, drunken green beans. And freezing berries to last all winter long.


Tip!
One fabulous trick I picked up at the class is how to peel a peach (or any of those fuzzy skinned fruits). In a pot of boiling water, submerse the peach into the pot for 30 seconds to one minute. This is just enough time for the peach to firm up and for the skin to loosen. Remove the peach and set aside until cool enough to handle. The skin will be loose and soft- making it easy to peel away.

I encourage you to sign up for the Good For You Gourmet newsletter, this month's edition includes recipes for Blueberry Chicken and Quinoa Tabbouleh. And, if you live in or around Victoria or are coming to town for a visit, I recommend checking out the Tuscany Village cooking class schedule. Classes are posted from now to December. So start cooking!