I would enjoy receiving either one. What would be great would be to receive the cranberry items with several serving ideas or recipes that use the cranberry item included.

^Agree with F2BH.

A lot of that kind of stuff disappears into my pantry to fade into lonely oblivion in "it's the thought that counts" world. Gina's marmalade sounds really good and different, and with a ribbon and a pretty label would probably get used right away.

CC, this is one I’ll be making, not just in honor of Gina—who’s been greatly missed—but because . . . look at it!

Sol

Sol, it is bright-colored and very pretty. You too are greatly missed!

I like the marmalade idea. It sounds tasty and could be used in various ways. It also has all high acid fruits and would not raise any red flags with me. I'm sometimes concerned about food safety when gifted a salsa or other home canned item with lots of low acid veggies. If it is made by a person who I don't know well, it can be hard to find out if the product is one I feel safe trying. Cranberries in salsa would not be my concern...the other ingredients might.

Sol, I do miss Gina, and I miss you too, I'm happy to see you back here.

I agree about the marmalade, and people sometimes use items like jam or preserves during the holidays that they wouldn't use at other times. I can easily see that marmalade being used in my cheese thumbprints or as a filling for shortbread cookie "sandwiches", and not just on toast or a muffin.

That said, I did make cranberry salsa one year and served it with cream cheese and crackers and with some pita chips that had a cinnamon sugar coating and it was gobbled up, even by people who said they didn't like cranberries.

Annie

All mentioned recipes are either "Small Batch Preserving" or "Ball Blue Book," so would be perfectly safe. However, since most folks have never tried cranberry salsa, I can imagine they might think they don't like it or be too timid to open up and try a jar. I like salsa a lot, including a lot of fruit salsas, but I am also a fan of sweet/sour tastes. Hubs not so much.

L, I don't think any of us were distrusting your recipes, but we all know people who aren't so trustworthy with a canning pot, and we all get homemade gifts from people whose skills and practice we just don't know. :)

If you want to do the salsa, and are worried about people being too timid to use it, you could include a little scroll saying first of all, "Tried and True Holiday Treat, from the Ball Blue Book of tested canning purity and made with love and skill just for you by LPinkMountain" , list the ingredients, then add some marketing blather or a mini-review--"This salsa has only a mild heat but a great depth of flavor, evoking the holiday season and candlelit fiestas. It pairs well with homemade tortilla chips (or the bagged kind), sourdough bread, and chicken sandwiches. Try it with a schmear of cream cheese for a surprisingly delightful bagel."

That can put the recipients' minds to rest over the questions of what's in it and did you know how not to poison people, and gives them a clue what to do with it.

I probably won't can, which I'm not experienced enough with to do without constantly checking and rechecking, but I may make the marmalade and keep it in the fridge. I might make the salsa too, if you'd care to share the recipe. :)

I'm always surprised at people being afraid of canning. There are many more efficient ways to poison people in your kitchen, and cooking the Thanksgiving turkey is one of them. We don't seem to fear other food hazards, and one could just as likely make a mistake in many other realms and make people sick. Like bad seafood, for example, which I once ate at a friends house and got violently ill from. Restaurants do it all the time. Canning is no more dangerous than any other kitchen product. But it does boil down to trusting the cook in any case. That's why home made baked goods were banned in schools, kids were getting sick in some cases, so the whole endeavor was cancelled, even though the cases of un-hygenic baked goods I imagine were few. I think in most cases it was salmonella from the eggs. My friend got that from a deli, btw (salmonella).

I'm a doofus in the kitchen, but I can read and understand food safety instructions. Canning is a whole lot easier to do safely than prepare meat, IMHO. And yet we still eat meat all the time and don't sweat it. I feel the same way about canning. You could make every mistake in the book with your marmalade and keep it on the counter for days and days, and it would still probably be OK. The worst thing about doing marmalade "wrong" would be runny marmalade, or after a whole lot of time it would probably mold, just like that bread you left out on the counter. And yet we don't fear making bread or squeezing a glass of orange juice.

I remember whole families dying from botulism from wrongly canned foods. It's not so common now, and probably not about jam, IIRC (I think it's not the sugary things that get that), but a big difference between that and a little common food poisoning... And to the best of my knowledge, I do know how to prevent common food poisoning and have never poisoned anyone with a turkey or anything else. I'm sure canning is as easy as you say, but since it's not on my list of skills, it takes me a lot of attentiveness, thought, and referring to the instructions. I know in my hands what to do with a turkey. I also know that there are a lot of people who do things like sterilizing the jars but not the ladle, then leave the jars in a nice warm place for the bacteria to grow. You're probably right that it wouldn't be harmful, but whole families used to die from one bad jar/can. It may no longer be relevant, but I can't shake that.

It's not just the sugar; fortunately the botulism bacteria doesn't like acidity. That's why most sweet fruit recipes call for adding an acid such as lemon juice. Marmalade with citrus and tart cranberries should be about as safe as one can get.

As plllog said, not a distrust of your methods, but a reflection on an experience I had - being offered a jar of "pickled" green beans and told that they changed the recipe so the taste isn't so "vinegary." I passed on that.

If you are gifting to people who know you and your canning expertise, I think they would be thrilled to receive a unique product.

It's a great thought and I appreciate receiving canned goods like that BUT as someone said, a lot gets lost in the larder only to resurface when you take everything out . . . .I always have good intentions but . . . And I must admit that no matter it's fate, I am always appreciative when I receive the gift and I always have the best intentions of using it but . .

Two things stand out at me in this thread:

If you are gifting to people who know you and your canning expertise, I think they would be thrilled to receive a unique product.

and

What would be great would be to receive the cranberry items with several serving ideas or recipes that use the cranberry item included.

Between coming from someone who I know is “into” canning, and being spoon fed suggestions on how to use it, it’d stand a good chance of being used.

A distant relative who I’ve never met recently gave my parents peach chutney. Mom didn’t know what to do with it and gave it to me. I’m willing to forget about any apprehensions (I’m guessing it’s on the safer end of the spectrum) but it’s just sitting here because I haven’t gotten around to looking up what to do with it. I’ve used chutneys before but I want it showcased not just a relatively minor ingredient.

Anyway I say go for it but b judicious about who you give it to.

Peach chutney is very similar to mango chutney which is a classic Indian dish, chicken with mango chutney, sort of like we might do apricot chicken. I have made it a couple times easy by using store bought mango chutney. Would also work as a topping for rice as a side dish.

I absolutely get why someone might be apprehensive about eating something home canned if they didn't know or didn't trust the canner. Salsa is one of those things that is borderline for being dangerous with the peppers and onions, etc. If you follow the recipe, it is safe, safe, safe. But since it is a melange, it might be one of those products that someone who didn't know better might be tempted to improvise on, or one of those things where someone got the idea they could just process an old family recipe and call it good.

But on the flip side, my comments about being afraid of canning were directed at people who might like to can but are afraid because they think it is so touchy or difficult to do safely. There really is a wide margin of error with many products, and even with botulism, it is not a huge risk and it is one that can be easily managed IF you are willing to learn how. I'm not pooh poohing it as a risk, I'm simply saying that it is a risk that can easily be brought down to almost zero, particularly with acidic fruits and with pickling. The people who run canning factories are no more perfect than you, and yet they manage to put out a (mostly) safe product. Sure, the scale and machinery is different, but it is no more human foolproof than you with a pot on the stove, just on a smaller scale. We trust total strangers not to poison us every time we buy a processed food product, so I think we should be able to trust ourselves. In my home state, we trust home canners enough with jams and jellies to allow them to be sold without even inspections of kitchens, that's how much margin for error there is with those products.

The other things like salmonella or listeria, mold, etc. could also be problems but they are not unique to canning and you manage them in your kitchen all the time quite easily. I do canning actually precisely because it is so darn easy. (Note I'm not talking pressure canning, which I have also done and is more fussy due to the ins and outs of operating pressure canners, although they have come a long, long way in ease of operation lately.) I suppose there is some visual finessing, but it is basically hack up a bunch of fruit, add some sugar, and seal it in a jar. I am simplifying, but those are the basic skills required. Not burning yourself with hot water boiling on the stove is actually the biggest safety issue if you are as clumsy as me.

To me, bread baking and pastry shaping and decorating are the real kitchen challenges. I've been trying to master artisan breads for years and still can't do it despite reading books, watching videos, discussing, trying, etc. And yet I was successful on my first try (pickled green tomatoes) with canning. And at that time, I didn't have a jar lifter or lid lifter or special pot or anything.

L, I don't disagree with anything you've said. My issue with botulism is a horror from childhood, an emotional reaction which makes me hypervigilant. It's personal, not factual. While I helped plenty with preparing things to be canned as a kid, it was friends whom we were staying with doing the canning, and I wasn't involved with the actual canning part. So everything I know about it is from casual association with all of you and reading the instuctions. I can make bread and cake without a recipe (not sure always what it'll be like, but so long as the leavening works, it'll be fine). For canning, even of marmalade, I have to have the instuctions by me and check and recheck and reread and keep tract of casual contamination issues. It's a big deal! So much easier to make a small batch and keep it in the fridge.

I love to make jams and jellies. I always assumed people would be thrilled to have something different than what you can get at a grocery store. Wrong. We babysit our grandkids and I needed to find something in my son's kitchen cabinet a couple of weeks ago. Way back in the back was every jar of jam I ever gave them :-( and I asked a couple of people who I trust that I had given jars to, to be honest and they both admitted they haven't ever opened any either. They "just don't think about it." So from here on I am not making big batches to can. I will make it a jar or 2 at a time and eat that up before making more. (It does help not having 8 apple trees in the yard any more.)

I would not touch it or any of the dozen jars I've been gifted. I'm with plllog about home canning. If you had been canning a recipe for 20 years like Annie, and previous recipients asked hey, "are you making your salsa or jams this year!! So looking forward to it!"...total canning trust.

20 yrs ago I went to a berry farm with a friend. I froze a boatload and made small batch fridge jam. She made jam and canned in jelly jars and gifted. The one she gave me was molding rather quickly...horrified she had to call all her recipients and say to toss them.

Annie's larder is full and trusted and family shops for their favorites in her pantry all winter.

I don't can at all, just ferment. And freeze. No experience here.

I make a begged for and loved fresh salsa for a charity event the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Label has a 'made-by' date and a 'use-by' date. Always gone in 2-24 hours.

If your recipients gifted have never had your 'canned' jam / stuff ever....they will toss it. ...and say thank you.

(I'm a NewYorker...we say thanks but no thanks)...give it to someone that might like it...some find that rude (but we prefer straight up honesty)...honesty has no confusion.

First, you cannot get botulism from fruit, or items like fruit jam or jelly. It can mold, but I don't eat moldy jam. It can spoil, but the smell or taste will be apparent and if you eat it you risk food poisoning.

Botulism is present in low acid vegetables, poultry, fish and meat products. Dairy I've learned cannot be safely canned regardless of process. The botulism spores grow in anaerobic environments, like sealed canning jars. It's odorless and tasteless and can be deadly. As Lpink mentioned, it's very, very rare but it is a possibility. The CDC has statistics for 2017 and there were 19 cases of food borne botulism. 15 of those were in California, 4 in Alaska. 10 of those 19 cases in California were linked to a convenience store selling nacho cheese and 3 of the cases in Alaska were from consuming whale blubber preserved in seal oil.

There were 141 cases of infant botulism (why they tell people not to feed babies honey) and another 19 from wounds, as botulism is also found in the soil. Here's the report, if you're interested:

https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/surv/2017/index.html

Anyway, Michigan has the Cottage Food Law that lets people sell jams and jellies, syrups and other food products without even having their kitchen inspected. If the item (strawberries, peaches, cranberries, whatever) has a Ph of 4.6 or below, that's the magic bullet. There are some "borderline" fruits like mangoes that need more carefully handling. However, salsa is a different subject. Besides including low acid vegetable products, it's consumed without being heated. Even a jar of tomatoes or beans should be boiled hard for 10 minutes if you are 1,000 feet above sea level, and add a minute for every 1,000 feet of altitude above 1,000. Of course, don't eat low acid food that you are uncertain about or that has become unsealed, smells bad, etc. , but that boiling time should destroy the toxin.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general/for_safety_sake.html

So, I don't eat home canned food from sources that I don't know and trust, but I've eaten jam from Lpink and wouldn't hesitate to consume LindaC's crab apple jelly with that paraffin on top instead of a lid, but I know them. Would I do the same from an unknown source. Um.....no. I'm assuming, however, that Lpink's recipients are those who know and love her and would appreciate her gift.

Everyone is guilty, I think, of "losing" things in the pantry, especially if it's not something that's regularly used. That lovely jar of fig preserves might land in a dark corner and I wouldn't think about it if I don't eat toast with jelly or have some similar use. I might have every good intention of eating that chutney, but just haven't worked it into my meal rotation. Even my own pantry with my own items has some jars that are 3 or 4 years old, and I periodically have to clean the pantry and the chickens are very, very happy then. Sealed items are still safe to eat but often lose quality, whether it's texture or taste.

So, that jar of homemade jam at the farmer's market? Knock yourself out. The pickled asparagus right next to it? In my life, there is zero chance I'm trying that.

Annie

Annie, thank-you for confirming that the botulism isn't in the jam. I thought so but wasn't sure. Many thanks for all the other info. I would trust L's jam, and yours and Linda's, no problem, but I know good cooks whom I just don't trust at all. I'm happy to have the home dried herbs, though they usually don't have much flavor left. Or cookies. One friend make a decadent combo of cookies and raspberry curd. But the curd was chilled, not canned. :) No way I'm going near home canned curd.

My point was not to trust other people's canned goods, but to trust oneself to be able to preserve food safely if that is what one would like to do. It's an important but not daunting skill set.

And as for gifts, I can see that there is limited utility in most stuff like that, even if the person trusts you, they just may not be able to get around to using the stuff. I have to make a real concerted effort to move certain things out of the fridge and pantry.