What do you do with all your old jams and chutneys

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janny3, May 5, 2:06am
Good tip for the crystalised lime marmalade into a grapefruit pickle or chutney and w/ Omokoroa's cake-fruit mix ideas above.

Plenty of welcome hints above. So now to blend a delicious fig chutney that the uncle said was too sweet (but I loved it).Since you're all full of great tips, will re-cook this w/ some unused savoury spiced fig chutney that my Fijian friend helped make but that he said was too hot even for him.LOL!

Thanks everyone!!!
arkle16, May 16, 9:54am
Absolutely fabulous idea.I hate anything going to waste.Have a few pickles my Mums bowling ladies made and they are a bit tart.Do you have any suggestions to sweeten it up or disguise the colour.It is yellow (bright)!!!Thanks.
janny3, May 16, 11:49am
My recooked jams turned into a sweet chutney. Time to dig out the sour old pickles to cut that.Thanks!
dottypea, Jun 21, 1:40am
Thanks for your inspirations, everyone.I've got a few 'interesting' jars that I forgot to label - wonder what I can turn them into!!
indy95, Jun 21, 2:03am
What a great example of recycling ! It won't happen here though because everything gets eaten and there's never anything left to experiment with.
dottypea, Jun 22, 1:40am
Thanks for your inspirations, everyone.I've got a few 'interesting' jars that I forgot to label - wonder what I can turn them into!
indy95, Jun 22, 2:03am
What a great example of recycling ! It won't happen here though because everything gets eaten and there's never anything left to experiment with.
omokoroa1, Apr 30, 3:46am
that your family have lost interest in!.stick around i'll tell you what i did with mine .you probably wont believe me
omokoroa1, Apr 30, 4:05am
i was making feijoa chutney last weekand the recipe needed crystalized ginger and our local shop didnt have any BUT they did have fruit cakemix.haha yup you guessed i brought that instead and used it in my chutneythe shop lady thought i was nuts when she asked me if i was making a fruit cake and i said no im making chutney .anyway while that was cooking away id seen all the half eaten jams that my family had pushed to the back of the fridge and cupboardyup you guessed it.i call them nana jamsmarmalade,plum jam,crabapple jamall the jams nana gavesome of the a good few yrs oldall went into the pot with the feijoa chutney .the kids love it .spiced meat sauce is the new name .yummy.so dont chuck all your old pickles and jams away .
omokoroa1, Apr 30, 6:01am
my chutney needed crystlized ginger it also needed sultanas.i mean why not use fruit cake mix it has all the ingredientsseems a cheaper wayto buy
the batch i made yesterday would go excellent with meat and vegieshad like a sweet and tangytastebut left a very nice after taste.cheaper than tomato sauce my teenagers love it .try it you wont be dissapointed
omokoroa1, Apr 30, 6:04am
what ever rain.i take it you dont like to mix and mingle in the kitchen.ohhh dear another store brought person
lythande1, Apr 30, 8:11pm
I don't have any. I make what they like, not stuff that won't get eaten and it's always gone by the time the next lot is due to be made.
greerg, Apr 30, 9:29pm
I don't have old ones either.I keep the jars in the freezer and they never shrink or darken.So if the family have a plum sauce year in tead of an apricot year or go for tomato chutney instead of beetroot for a while it doesn't matter.Also if I do get carried away and make too much there always seem to be keen recipients for homemade preserves nowadays since not everyone makes them any more.
janny3, May 1, 6:23am
Good one.I always have forgotten jars of jams & uneaten preserves gifted to me by friends & family.I hate to waste them when I know how much work & good ingredients went into them so will do that too.Thanks.

BTW:What ratio of fruit mix to fruit, jams etc!
beaker59, May 1, 11:54pm
I recycle and back blend allot my last chutney isn't that good though (palmed some off on my ex wife though and she liked it he he he) so will make a new one soon and throw whats left of the old one into it. Recycled a failed Mandarin marmalade into the latest batch of Grapefruit marmalade and its awesome :) most of that batch has been pinched by visiting kids already as the grandchildren like granddads marmalade.
janny3, May 3, 11:04am
Emptied all the leftover jam donations into the chutney pot w/ the cake fruit mix instead of separate ginger & dried fruit.

Guess I had more nanna jams hanging around than you did because tho' I'd added no sugar to the mix, the end result is too sweet.So I put in extra onions, more vinegar, spices & salt to counter the sweetness but it will still taste like a jam until I get in more fresh fruit.

Not my best results aye.
lilyfield, May 3, 7:41pm
what leftovers!Everything gets eaten in this house
janny3, May 4, 1:24am
Thanks for this tip. In these tough times, it's useful to avoid wastage.And I probably would've twigged about the foodcolouring AND the jelly crystals.
kob, May 4, 3:39am
not them, they went through two grocery bags of asparagus,(friends were picking it and were givin the odd shaped ones or 2nds) and they hate it, I peeled the spikes off and cut the stalks to look like brocolli, they love brocolli so devoured it,mind you we did have a few too many stirfrys,but the same asparagus that I did in brine sat in the fridge and grew mould, so in my house its what the eye does not see, i could continiue and continue, but you can pull the wool over the family's eyes you just have to have a poker face, and when they become tired off something reinvent it.
janny3, May 4, 10:00am
Out of 5 jars of unfinished old nanna jams (blackberry, plum, figs, feijoa, passionfruit etc) I got 7 jars of new, thick, sweet, spicy black chutney made w/ the cake-fruit-mix.Was a good way to use up the old expired spices too.

My home support worker stirred & tasted it while I was outside.She took a jar for her boys. LOL!

Perfect on a cheese sandwich.

Thanks kob,

I meant to say I would not have thought about the jelly crystals & food colourings if you'd not suggested.
omokoroa1, May 4, 5:46pm
hey janny been reading your posts N1 sorry huni dont measure anything so i couldnt tell quantities .when i cook i cook like making witches brew .lol looks a mess but tastes good with all this yukky weather in Tauranga there has been nothing else to do but make preserves the feijoas are falling on ground because of this stormy weather .i need a change of fruitmy pantry is getting all feijoaed out made feijoa jamyesterday funny you should mention the cheese thing because mr 17 was eating the jam on a cheese sandwhichhe saidit was yumm as
fifie, May 5, 12:46am
Great idea isn't it in these times of expensive food. Good for you i do the same and if i miss any in the pantry i bring the jars right to the front row so i see them when making gravey, casseroles, slow cooker meals just use a good size spoonful in these, and that gets rid of the rest giving me more jars for the next pickle/chutney season.
janny3, May 5, 2:06am
Got the idea from your comments to recylce some crystalised lime marmalade into a grapefruit pickle or chutney w/ Omokoroa's cake-fruit mix ideas above.

Thanks for the wealth of welcome hints above everyone. Will blend a delicious fig chutney that I loved (but the uncle said was too sweet) & re-cook it w/ unused savoury spiced fig chutney my Fijian mate helped make (but that uncle had said was too hot even for him).He won't know.LOL!

Thanks everyone!
arkle16, Oct 29, 11:17am
Absolutely fabulous idea.I hate anything going to waste.Have a few pickles my Mums bowling ladies made and they are a bit tart.Do you have any suggestions to sweeten it up or disguise the colour.It is yellow (bright)!Thanks.