There is nothing like a pan of spicy chutney bubbling away in the kitchen to warm you up on a cold evening. Since we’ve just finished up the last jar of our seasonal chutney made almost a year ago it was time to branch out again with our preserving adventures.  This time with pumpkins, quince, apple and red onion. I admit I had to buy the apples and quince but in years to come we’ll be fully self-sufficient from our backyard pantry for those too.

I had never envisaged become so interested in preserving but after my mother in law ran amok in the kitchen with my River Cottage Preserving Handbook I have to admit I’m hooked.  Our main problem is being able to eat all we make – with two people in the house it can be quite a challenge.  Although we never seem to have a problem scoffing our way through our stockpiles of beetroot relish and jam. My next artisan challenge is to create some funky Domestic Executive labels for the jars.