More classes with James? TBA!
Learn to preserve the wonderful flavors of summer. Master food preserver James Alton Thomas will teach you how to make fresh preserves. We'll be using Soons peaches. $15 for a hands-on hour and a half class, which includes 2 jars of jam & 1 of pickles too to take home! Each class limited to 6 so you get plenty of hands-on learning time! Call us to sign up - 845.374.5471. In our new (future) Tasting Room, adjacent to our store. (Note: class is for adults and highly motivated teenagers 14 & up)
Sauce and Salsa Class focuses on TOMATOES and how to turn them into sauce and salsa to jar and enjoy all winter... how great would it be to enjoy your own (or Soons'!) tomato sauce on some hot pasta as it snows outside?!
* James says: technically, we're making a spread, because we are using WAY less sugar - with these great peaches we don't need all the sugar most jam recipes call for (and they call for A LOT!)
Link to James' website where he has posted recipes - previous class attendees take note!
Comments from our weekend jam class:
The how to make jam and also pickles class was a great experience. James is very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of helpful information to ensure a safe product. My family loved the peach jam (they have to wait 2 weeks for the pickles to be ready). After being inspired by James, I am ready to start some major canning. I will definitely recommend this class to my friends. Thanks for offering this class,
- Pat P.
Just wanted to thank you for another amazing canning class. The salsa was delicious!
-Samantha S.
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Make this special time of year last by freezing Soons peaches! Here's some how-to:
Prepping Peaches for Freezing
Peaches freeze great with very little effort… and you will absolutely love the treat of yummy sweet peaches in the middle of winter! It’s worth the time to freeze some bags or containers now, while it’s full-on peach season.
Begin with fully-ripened freestone peaches at room temperature (this is important!). If they are soft enough to eat and peel easily, then they are ready for freezing. If not, store at room temp for another day or two.
Peeling: Preparing peaches for freezing requires peeling, pitting, and slicing--a challenge when handling a slippery peach.
Two options:
Dip the whole room temp peach into a large pot of water at a rapid boil for 2-3 seconds, then quickly transfer into a sink or bowl filled with icy cold water. The skins should peel away easily.
Or, place whole unpeeled peaches in the freezer until semifrozen (1 1/2 to 2 hours) you loosen the skin from the flesh, making it easy to peel away the skin. Once peeled, the juice will have sufficiently solidified to make the fruit easy to hold and slice.
To freeze completely and store, slice 4 medium peaches over a bowl filled with 1 1/2 tablespoons Fruit Fresh (or other ascorbic-acid-based product, or lemon juice) and anywhere from zero to 1 1/2 cups sugar. After peach slices begin to release their juices, fill a zipper-lock freezer bag or a plastic freezer container with both peaches and sugar and seal, removing as much air as possible, but leaving a tiny bit of space for expansion.