Fresh peaches, softened, pureed and stewed for a fruit spread that is summer in a jar.

Peach Butter

When it comes to preserved fruit, I am generally much more of a jam or preserve gal, because while butters are usually pureed and have a smooth texture, I rather enjoy the presence of some chunks of fruit, so I guess it's a texture thing for me.

My Mama never canned, well anything, not that I can recall at least, so I never knew much about the subject and had little interest. Since starting a blog about food however, I've certainly seen a lot and as "butters" go, apple butters are featured all over the place with bloggers in the fall.

Fresh green beans, quickly blanched, then covered in a pickled brine, with fresh dill, garlic and hot peppers.

Refrigerator Dilly Beans

I have a love-love relationship with anything pickled - cucumber pickles, of course, my favorite being bread and butter - I can plow through a jar of those like nobody's looking, though frankly I really haven't met a pickle I didn't love.

I adore pickle relish.

A fresh peach jam made with peaches, sweet red bell peppers and jalapeno.

Peach and Pepper Jam

Like cornbread, whether a hoecake is make from flour or cornmeal, what is the so-called "right" way to make southern chicken and dumplings and how we all make other regional foods, the title of who can claim the top peach in the country is one of those things that can create an argument quickly among several Southern states. Truth is, I figure whatever peach is local to you is probably the winner.

Grape jelly made with the Southern Muscadine and Scuppernong grape.

Muscadine and Scuppernong Jelly

It's muscadine time! Muscadines are the native Southern grape, ripening here in the South during the late summer and early fall months. You'll find both muscadine and scuppernong grapes right now and through about October at U-pick farms, local farmer's markets and produce stands and many local grocery markets in the South.

Million Dollar Sweet Pickle Relish

 

A heirloom sweet pickle relish made from cucumbers, onion and sweet red and green bell peppers.

Million Dollar Relish

A couple of years back, Mary Fonville, a reader from our Facebook page, shared her personal recipe for Million Dollar Relish, an heirloom recipe for a sweet pickle relish that she's been personally making for more than 40 years.

 

Whole figs, preserved in a thick sugar syrup.

Preserved Figs

I've talked about it here before, but I grew up in a home where the back property line butted up against a heavily wooded field. We had a short, wood framed fence along the back, easy to climb, and we had such fun playing in those woods, building caves and forts out of twigs and branches and using our imagination to entertain ourselves.

Times sure were much more innocent then.

 

Preserves, made from fresh, ripe blackberries, sugar and lemon.

Blackberry Preserves

Pick your own blackberries have pretty much played out down here in South Mississippi, though you may have a little more luck if you live in the northern part of our state. Of course, you'll still find California berries in the markets everywhere on through early fall, and probably even some from Central or South America too. Local, or as local as you can get, are always going to be the best.

Chunky fig jam, made with fresh figs, lemon and sugar, a southern favorite.

Chunky Fig Jam

While I know that some of you are just getting to those figs, my fig tree, like most here in The Deep South, has given up all she had. I don't know much about all the different varieties of fig trees, but mine is a Celeste, very popular in this region. Generally speaking, they are supposed to peak in July, but depending on where you live, ripening can occur anywhere from mid-June through August.

I planted her in the spring following Katrina in 2006 in honor of my mama who used to have one in our backyard. Having lost my job thanks to that hurricane, and following the economic crisis that topped a natural disaster, I wasn't having much success finding another job, so I threw myself into gardening, something I never had time for much before. Like all good southerners do, I planted mine on the south side of my house, against the brick wall, and she has really thrived in that spot.

Easy, old fashioned icebox bread and butter pickles, can either be made to store in the refrigerator, or processed in a hot water bath for pantry storage.

Icebox Bread and Butter Pickles

Most of you know that I am pretty new to the world of canning, so I have to caveat the posts I decide to be brave enough to share, to say use at your own risk, consult a professional canning source for more detailed information on the canning process, standard disclaimers, disclosures, warnings, yada yada yada.

Quick fresh fig refrigerator jam - simply chopped figs, sugar, a little bit of water, and some lemon. Simple. Perfect.

Fresh Fig Refrigerator Jam

Seems like I just planted my Celeste fig tree but it's been more than 4 years already.

I planted it in honor of my mama not long after Hurricane Katrina made me a full-time homemaker and well, eventually a blogger of southern food too I guess now!

You can read more about Mama's fig tree on my recipe for a delicious lemon poppy seed fig glazed cake. The cake there is "glazed," or really just topped to be honest, with nothing more than a thicker form of refrigerator jam.

Watermelon rind pickles are a multi-step process. First, the trimmed rind of a watermelon is cut into slices and soaked overnight in a salt water brine, then boiled to tenderize, and later boiled in a spiced, vinegar and sugar mixture and left to stand overnight, before preparing for water bath canning.

Watermelon Rind Pickles

I don't know what it is about the taste of sweet down south. Maybe sweet things just help to take our minds off of the heat, who knows. We sure like our desserts in The Deep South, no doubt about that. People will talk all day about not wanting to cook but then their eyes will light up at the mention of some baked goods! Some Southerners even like their mayonnaise sweet, sauces sweet, cornbread sweet, and we sure like our watermelon rind pickles sweet!

Many southerners have very fond memories of sittin' on the back porch, or more likely a picnic table in the middle of the yard - the better to hose us down - parked in front of big slices of sticky, sweet watermelon, holding a knife in one hand to cut the juicy pulp off the rind, and very often a salt shaker in the other, and havin' seed spittin' contests with or at our siblings. Yes we do that, and while I know that newly bred seedless watermelon is all the rage these days, I truly still like a good ole seeded watermelon. The only down side is their size and having the place to store it in the fridge, so the smaller seedless ones have become quite popular.