[LotuSeed]

New Shoot I love those jars! Are the gooseberries in syrup?
Surbie strawberry lavender sounds interesting!

[tosca100]

Strawberry and rhubarb jam, gooseberry jam. strawberry jam, pickled beetroot, cucumber pickle, beetroot chutney, onion chutney, spiced tomato chutney. Most of it I sell. Also bottled the first of many tomatoes (any over at the end of the year goes into chutney) The freezer was empty but has started to fill with runner and French beans, fruit and courgettes, peas and broad beans. Anything I can't use at the end of the year either goes into jam or chutney or to the ducks and chooks.

[New shoot]

New Shoot I love those jars! Are the gooseberries in syrup?

They are a type of preserving jar that is widely used in the UK LotuSeed.  I have a collection that I sterilise and re-use again and again. I  buy replacement packs of the rubber sealing rings, if they start to perish.

The gooseberries are in a light syrup as they were fairly sweet to start with 

[LotuSeed]

Are they le parfait or Kilner?  (I used a bunch one Christmas to hold sugar scrubs.) I have one jar in the freezer now that has garlic and olive oil in it. I love those jars!

[New shoot]

Now that sent me into a blank moment.  I had to go and check    Le parfait 

[surbie100]

Surbie strawberry lavender sounds interesting!

It's very more-ish and this one: http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/community/strawberry-lavender-jam-recipe

[LotuSeed]

I might try making a small batch. My lavender is blooming and I have plenty of strawberries.

[New shoot]

I picked more gooseberries yesterday and stewed them down to a thick purée. Most of it is in the freezer, packed into plastic Chinese takeaway boxes. 

I held one tub back and made silly twits ice-cream today.  A whole tub of gooseberry purée went in and I now have 3 small tubs of the most gorgeous ice-cream. The unfrozen mix was bowl lickingly good, but just had a little spoon of the frozen ice-cream and it is fab

[RJR_38]

The birds stripped mine so early this year  and I haven't found anywhere that sells them......

[New shoot]

That's a shame RJR     

My huge old Invicta bushes do get picked by the birds on the outsides, but they have such thorny interiors, loads of fruit is left for me.  Do you grow such a thorny variety?  They are not the easiest to pick, but they do have their plus points 

[sunshineband]

I picked more gooseberries yesterday and stewed them down to a thick purée. Most of it is in the freezer, packed into plastic Chinese takeaway boxes. 

I held one tub back and made silly twits ice-cream today.  A whole tub of gooseberry purée went in and I now have 3 small tubs of the most gorgeous ice-cream. The unfrozen mix was bowl lickingly good, but just had a little spoon of the frozen ice-cream and it is fab

Gooseberry picking day tomorrow, and the icecream sounds a great idea. Do you just stir in the puree  like ripples, or right in?

[New shoot]

I've stirred it right in.  You have to take silly twits out of the freezer half an hour before you want to eat it and I wanted it all to soften in the same way 

[RJR_38]

That's a shame RJR     

My huge old Invicta bushes do get picked by the birds on the outsides, but they have such thorny interiors, loads of fruit is left for me.  Do you grow such a thorny variety?  They are not the easiest to pick, but they do have their plus points 

I have got invictus and a couple of different Hinoakis - it is only their second season though so still fairly small. Hopefully in a few years....

[New shoot]

It was a modest addition to the freezer, but I made the base of coriander & mint chutney yesterday.  Basically half the quantity of mint to coriander, with as much fresh green chilli as you feel the need for, then blitz with a tiny bit of water to get it going.

It was frozen in an ice cube tray, then the cubes were decanted to a bag.  Defrost a few cubes, mix with plain yogurt, season with lemon juice and salt and it is a lovely addition to a curry 

I also found a recipe for french beans pickled with lemon and rosemary. This may be the answer to the french bean mountain that seems to be forming in my fridge 

[sunshineband]

There are always such good ideas round here 

I have never thought of freezing the makings of that chutney, New Shoot. I always make it from scratch, which can be difficult in the winter as it needs a quantity of mint leaves and even in the greenhouse they don't grow so fast at that time of the year.