There’s a quiet magic in making marmalade on a sunless, rainy spring day. The fire crackles while the rain gently taps the window, like the sky rinsing away winter’s weight. Sweet, ruby-fleshed Cara Cara oranges meet the bite of lemon, creating a marmalade that captures the fleeting brightness of citrus season, a bittersweet alchemy sealed in a  Ball® half pint jar. You can find this recipe for Orange Marmalade on my blog or in the 38th Edition Ball® Blue Book Guide to Preserving! 

Preserving isn’t just about saving food. It’s bottling up a season, tucking sunshine away for darker days. I find a messy, grounding ritual always slows time down, connects us to generations past, and roots us in sweetness even as life swirls around us.

the light is shifting from the skies, the mornings are wrapped in a chill, the shift is upon us. the warmth of summer slowly slips into fall. do you feel it?

succulent peaches are a sigil of summer. the pinnacle of the suns energy, juicy and filled with sweetness. one of our local growers has peach trees that can withstand the midwest winters + when they are in season they are griffin’s favorites. i love to put up peaches in this way, honeyed and spiced, and perfect to pull from the pantry on a winter’s day to top oatmeal, dutch pancakes or to eat straight out of the jar.

this is not hyperbole, this is my favorite recipe yet as a ball® canning ambassador. unsweetened, cinnamon spiced pears.