Preserve It! Chicken Wing Season! 

The Super Bowl always means there is a grand feast of snack foods to plan and prepare. While the textures and flavors abound at this annual gathering (whether you watch the game or not), it seems a quintessential ingredient on the menu is the spicy-vinegary buffalo sauce. Traditionally this sauce would be baked into chicken wings (with extra sauce for dipping of course), but it also makes an amazing sauce for pizza or for chicken sliders.

Using grocery-store tomatoes in winter 

Sure, it’s not tomato season but that bland winter tomato from the store will shine in this sauce recipe. Keep the peels from the tomatoes, sprinkle with seasoning, and dehydrate them for a unique snack. This recipe comes from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, 2024.

Chicken Wing Sauce

Makes about eight 8-ounce jars

Ingredients

10 cups peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes*

2 cups chopped onions

1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 ½ cups white vinegar (5% acidity)

4 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

2 to 3 Tbsp favorite hot sauce (optional), if you want more “heat”

*To peel tomatoes, place them in a pot of boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until the skins start to crack. Immediately dip in cold water. The skins will slip off easily. One pound of tomatoes equals about 2 ½ to 3 cups of chopped tomatoes.

Instructions

In a large stainless-steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, onions, brown sugar, and cayenne. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender or a food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree until smooth.

Return puree to saucepan. Stir in vinegar, salt, garlic, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and (optional) your favorite hot sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until mixture is the consistency of a thin commercial sauce, about one hour.

Meanwhile, prepare boiling-water canner or atmospheric steam canner. Heat cleaned jars in canner until ready to use, do not boil (simmering water at 180 degrees F). Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.

Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving half-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust to fingertip tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Water must cover jars by at least one inch in boiling water canner or come to the base of the rack in a steam canner. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner, and bring water to a rolling boil in a boiling-water canner or until there’s a steady stream of steam coming from the steam canner for one minute. Start timing and process pint jars: 15 minutes at 0 – 1,000 feet elevation, 20 minutes at 1,001 – 3,000 feet, 25 minutes at 3,001 – 6,000 feet, 30 minutes 6,001 – 8,000 feet.

Turn off heat. For boiling water canner, remove lid and let jars stand five minutes. For atmospheric steam canner, let canner sit undisturbed for five minutes, then remove lid. Remove jars and cool on a toweled surface 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal (they should not flex when center is pressed). Label, date, and store in a cool dark place.

This article and recipe by UC Master Food Preserver Laurie Lewis originally appeared in the Mountain Democrat in January 2026. 

The UC Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County are a great resource for answers to your food safety and preserving questions. 

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Preserve It! Oh Dear, the Zucchini! 

Pickling is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. Queen Cleopatra attributed her legendary beauty as well as her health to the pickles in her diet. Roman troops were given pickles in their diet believing it would make them strong.

What if you don’t have many pickling cucumbers? No problem. Make some sweet, tangy pickles with all those zucchinis you can’t give away this time of year. These pickles make a wonderful addition to your charcuterie board for the holidays.

This recipe hails from National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), University of Georgia.

Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles

Yield:  About 8-to-9-pint jars

16 cups sliced zucchini squash (or other summer squash or cucumbers)

4 cups thinly sliced onions (about 1 ½ pounds medium onions)

½ cup pickling or canning salt

4 cups white vinegar, 5% acidity

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 Tablespoons celery seed

4 Tablespoons mustard seed

Slice zucchini into rounds, one-quarter-inch thick. Slice onions into one-quarter-inch thick slices. Place sliced vegetables in a large flat glass or plastic container. Cover sliced vegetables with one inch of water and the salt. Let stand for two hours. Add ice cubes over the top, if desired.

Meanwhile, prepare boiling-water canner or atmospheric steam canner. Heat cleaned jars in canner until ready to use, do not boil (simmering water at 180 degrees F). Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.

Drain vegetables thoroughly after the two hours. Rinse vegetables in cool water if you desire a less salty product.

Bring spices, sugar, and vinegar to a boil in a large stainless-steel saucepan. Add the sliced vegetables to the spice/vinegar mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for five minutes.

Pack zucchini and onions into a hot jar, leaving half-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Water must cover jars by at least one inch in boiling water canner or come to the base of the rack in a steam canner. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner, and bring water to a rolling boil in a boiling-water canner or until there’s a steady stream of steam coming from the steam canner for 1 minute. Start timing and process half-pint jars: 10 minutes at 0 – 1,000 feet elevation, 15 minutes at 1,001 – 6,000 feet, 20 minutes at 6,001feet and above.

Turn off heat. For boiling water canner, remove lid and let jars stand five minutes. For atmospheric steam canner, let canner sit undisturbed for 5 minutes, then remove lid. Remove jars and cool on a toweled surface 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal (they should not flex when center is pressed). Label, date, and store in a cool dark place.

The UC Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County are a great resource for answers to your food safety and preserving questions. Use our "Ask a Master Food Preserver" tool to submit your question and a volunteer will get in touch with you ASAP. 

Ask a Master Food Preserver

This article by UC Master Food Preserver Laurie Lewis originally appeared in the Mountain Democrat.

Preserve It! Peaches!  

Don't Hesitate to Buy Loads of Fuzzy Peaches (in season!)  

Have you noticed that fresh peaches have more fuzz than peaches in grocery stores? Before peaches are sold in grocery stores, some of the fuzz is removed to make it more appealing. It is thought that too much fuzz on a peach might look like mold to consumers. Why do peaches have fuzz? It is believed that the fuzz repels extra moisture outside of the fruit and helps trap moisture inside the fruit, keeping it from drying out.

While one might think of the state of Georgia as the peach state, California is the largest producer of peaches in the country. Living so close to peach orchards in the Placerville area, it’s easy to over-purchase, coming home with more fresh fruit than can be eaten right away. Don’t fight the urge. Just can up some peaches in syrup, freeze some for pies this winter, or make the recipe below. This recipe comes from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, 2023. This would be delicious as a glaze over a grilled or roasted meat or on some fresh out-of-the-oven English muffins.

Peach-Ginger Butter

Makes about six half-pint jars

10 cups coarsely chopped fresh peaches (about 12 medium)*

½ cup water

½ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

2 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice

3 cups sugar

Combine first five ingredients in a six-quart stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes or until peaches are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Pulse peach mixture, in batches, in a food processor until almost smooth. Pour each batch into a large bowl.

Return peach puree to stainless steel pot; stir in sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook stirring constantly, 25-30 minutes or until mixture thickens and holds its shape on a spoon.

Meanwhile, prepare a boiling-water canner or atmospheric steam canner. Heat cleaned jars in canner until ready to use, do not boil (simmering water at 180 degrees F). Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.

Ladle peach puree into a hot jar, leaving one quarter-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Water must cover jars by one inch in boiling water canner or come to the base of the rack in a steam canner. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner, and bring water to a rolling boil in a boiling-water canner or until there’s a steady stream of steam coming from the steam canner. Start timing and process half-pint jars: 10 minutes at 0 – 1,000 feet elevation, 15 minutes at 1,001 – 3,000 feet, 20 minutes 3,001 – 6,000 feet, 25 minutes 6,001 – 8,000 feet.

Turn off heat. For boiling water canner, remove lid and let jars stand five minutes. For atmospheric steam canner, let canner sit undisturbed for three to five minutes, then remove lid. Remove jars and cool on a toweled surface 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal. Label, date, and store in a cool dark place.

*Note: Should not use white-flesh peaches, as the pH of these are not acidic enough for safe canning.

The UC Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County are a great resource for answers to your food safety and preserving questions. Email us at edmfp@ucanr.edu. For more information about our program, events, and recipes, visit our website at ucanr.edu/sites/mfp_of_cs/. Find us on Facebook, too (UCCE Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County)!

This article originally appeared in the August 06, 2025 Mountain Democrat and was written by UC Master Food Preserver Laurie Lewis.

Preserve It! Properly Prepared for Pepper Season

by UCCE Master Food Preserver Laurie Lewis

The heat of summer in California is in full swing. We are in the height of the season for growing peppers. If you enjoy peppers, or if you grow them in the garden, you may be looking for ways to enjoy the abundance of peppers that surrounds us. 

Peppers were ancient currency

Hot as well as sweet peppers have been grown for thousands of years in Central and South America. Did you know that the Aztecs had at least seven different words for hot pepper or that the Incas used peppers as currency?

Sweet and spicy is the perfect combination

Now, let’s change gears and think about the part of our country that produces maple syrup. It takes sunny, warm days and below-freezing nights to have the maple sap running. Native Americans used maple sugar as a source of food as well as a trading item.

If we combine the wonders of our Northeast (maple syrup) and Southwest (peppers) we come up with a spectacular recipe from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, 38^thedition, 2024. Try this recipe over a block of cream cheese or spread on a hamburger (sop up the pickled juices into that bread).

Maple Pickled Jalapeños Recipe

Makes about 4 pint jars

2 ½ to 3 pounds jalapeño peppers, sliced*

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

3 cups cider vinegar, at least 5% acidity

1 ½ cups water

1 cup maple syrup

Prepare boiling-water canner or atmospheric steam canner. Heat cleaned jars in canner until ready to use, do not boil (simmering water at 180 degrees F). Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.

Wash peppers under cold running water; drain. Cut stem and blossom ends off peppers. Cut peppers crosswise into one-quarter-inch slices. Peel onion and remove root and stem ends. Cut onion crosswise into thin slices; separate slices into rings.

Combine sugar, salt, mustard seeds, peppercorns, vinegar, water, and maple syrup in a medium saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer five minutes. Stir in peppers and onions; simmer five minutes.

Pack hot vegetables into a hot jar, leaving one-half-inch headspace. Ladel hot liquid over vegetables, keeping one-half-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar and adjust band to finger tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat until all jars are filled. 

Water must cover jars by at least one inch in boiling water canner or come to the base of the rack in a steam canner. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner, and bring water to a rolling boil in a boiling-water canner or until there’s a steady stream of steam coming from the steam canner. Start timing and process half-pint (or pint) jars: 15 minutes at 0 – 1,000 feet elevation, 20 minutes at 1,001 – 3,000 feet, 25 minutes at 3,001 – 6,000 feet, 30 minutes at 6,001 – 8,000 feet.

Turn off heat. For boiling water canner, remove lid and let jars stand 5 minutes. For atmospheric steam canner, let canner sit undisturbed for three to five minutes, then remove lid. Remove jars and cool on a toweled surface 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal (they should not flex when center is pressed). Label, date, and store in a cool dark place.

*When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

Enjoy peppers this pepper season! 

The UC Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County are a great resource for answers to your food safety and preserving questions. Email us at edmfp@ucanr.edu. For more information about our program, events, and recipes, visit our website at https://ucanr.edu/sites/mfp_of_cs/. Find us on Facebook, too (UCCE Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County)

This article first appeared in the Mountain Democrat on July 2, 2025