Duffy - Preserving with Pomonas Pectin : the revoluitionary low-sugar, high-flavor method for crafting and canning jams, jelllies, conserves, and more

Allison Carroll Duffy and the Partners at Pomonas Universal Pectin

We, the Pomonas Universal Pectin partners, are proud to have participated with Allison Carroll Duffy in the production of this book. Allison has been a joy to work with, and the majority of the recipes come from her wonderfully creative mind and her experience preserving with Pomonas. In addition, some of the recipes come from other experienced Pomonas jam makers who answered our call for voluntary contributions of their favorite Pomonas recipes. We thank them for their generosity and willingness to share. You will find their names noted in the recipe headnotes. Allison has worked with, tested, and adapted their recipes in order to ensure your jam-making success.

It is also important to note that the recipes in this book have been written exclusively for Pomonas Universal Pectin. Please dont try to substitute a different pectin and expect it to work. Pomonas is a fun and easy way to preserve fruit using low amounts of any sweetener, but it is different from other pectins both in how it works and how you work with it. Pomonas allows for flexibility and creativity in jam making, but it is necessary to first understand the basics of how to use it, which are well explained throughout this book.

Workstead Industries, the small family-owned business that brings you Pomonas, got its start in 1980 on Pragtree Farm in Arlington, Washington. Farmers Brian Saunders and Connie Sumberg had an abundance of organic berries on the farm; Brian wanted to make jam, but was horrified at the amount of sugar required. Some sleuthing and experimenting led to the pectin known today as Pomonas Universal Pectin. In 1989, Connie took over the business, running it independently until 2009, when family members Mary Lou Sumberg (Connies sister) and Paul Rooney (Mary Lous husband) joined her.

Pomonas has been offering jam makers the happiness of healthy, homemade jams and jellies for over 30 years. We are thrilled to provide this unique product that both brings jam making into the twenty-first century and returns us to our roots, allowing us to preserve our local fruit in a healthier (more fruity, less sugary) way. It is a joy for us to see Pomonas and the entire whole foods movement continue to grow all across the United State and the world.

With the current resurgence of interest in home canning and preserving, the time has finally come for a book devoted to recipes for Pomonas Pectin. We are confident that, whether you are new to preserving with Pomonas or a seasoned expert, you will find a treasure trove of mouthwatering and compelling flavor combinations in this book.

Thank you so much for your support ... and happy jamming!

Mary Lou Sumberg, Connie Sumberg, and Paul Rooney The Pomonas Universal Pectin Partners

Ah, preserving. Its safe to say that putting up fruits and vegetables when theyre in season is one of the things I love to do most. And of all that I preserve, jams and jellies are my favorite. My family and I live in Maine, and we spend much of the summer and fall hunting for local fruit to transform into these preserves, which stock our pantry shelves throughout the year. We pick strawberries at a nearby farm in late June, and we buy quarts of raspberries from our neighborhood farmers market in July. We spend warm August days picking blackberries in the woods, and we get peaches from a local orchard. Then we head up the Maine coast to a small, wild blueberry operation in late August for boxes of fresh-picked berries. Finally, in September and October we pick bushels of apples from the many old apple trees on our property. In my mind, jams and jellies are one of the best ways to preserve these fleeting summer and fall beauties, concentrating all of their glorious, fresh, heady flavors into luscious, intensely fruity and often sublime jellied concoctionsready to be enjoyed year-round, simply by opening a jar.

Many of us have a growing interest in our food and where it comes from, and are making an effort to put more in-season, locally grown foods on our tables. Jam making, and canning and preserving in general, are enjoying a renaissance of sorts, partly due to this new mindset. Jams, jellies, and other canned goods have a long and practical history, having been produced by families in home kitchens for generations as a way to preserve the harvest for sustenance throughout the year. And while we enjoy the ease these days of not having to grow and preserve all of our own food, for those of us who want to eat more seasonal, locally grown, and home-produced foods, canning and preserving offer a practical way to do so.

If you are new to canning and preserving, jams and jellies are some of the best items to start with, as they are easy to can and require only a few ingredients: fruit, sweetener, sometimes an added acid like lemon juice, and pectin. When I was introduced to Pomonas Universal Pectin several years ago I was, to put it mildly, hooked. Pomonas allows you to make jams that jell reliably with low amounts of sugar (or any other sweetener you choose, such as honey, maple syrup, or stevia), which is something you cannot do with other commercial pectins. And, Pomonas contains no sugar, no preservatives, and no other added ingredientsalso unlike other pectins.

DID YOU KNOW?

Most commercially available pectins require 5 to 9 cups (1 to 18 kg) of sugar per batch, resulting in jams that are 55 to 85 percent sugar. Pomonas, on the other hand, jells fruit with truly low amounts of sugar, or any other sweetener, giving you more intense fruit flavorand keeping you from lapsing into sugar shock.

My pantry shelves are stocked with rows and rows of homemade jams and jellies, and my family probably eats sixty or seventy jars per year (on toast! on yogurt! on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!). With as much as we consume, having this kind of control over the ingredients in our jams, as only Pomonas allows, is extremely important to me. With Pomonas, I can make the full-fruit-flavored jams and jellies that my family and I love, knowing that Im making a jam thats not only delicious but also healthful and wholesome.

In our home, jam making is a family affair, with my husband washing and de-stemming the fruit and our two young boys mashing up big bowls of berries. Sometimes a friend will stop by, or my mother will come over to help out. Its a wonderful way to spend time with family and friendsenjoying each others company, having fun, and working together to make something wholesome, healthful, and delicious.