sweet miscellany

This vegan cranberry marmalade has the loveliest ruby hue and it tastes and smells like the holidays! You can either can your marmalade for long term storage (instructions included in the recipe) or park it in the fridge if you plan to enjoy it within a month.

Every now and then I reminisce about the days when Sweet Miscellany wasn’t just this blog but also a small business selling vegan/gluten free baked goods and local fruit jams at a farmers market. I did everything myself. EVERYTHING. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The only reason I ended up making jams to begin with was the fact that my signature cookie was a thumbprint and I wanted to be able to make my own jams to fill it. I also wanted to be able to take advantage of local fruit when it was in season so canning made sense logically.

I went about canning like I do most new things: I read as much as I can and take copious notes. The first jam I made was a blood orange marmalade to be used exclusively for my thumbprint cookies. It’s the MOST labor intensive of any of the jams I’ve made because it’s a tedious process that spans two days. But the result is SO WORTH IT. It has the most brilliant burnt orange hue and the perfect balance of tart, bitter, and sweet.

Over my time at the market I created nearly 30 different jam, marmalade, and fruit butter recipes. My absolute favorite ended up being the cranberry marmalade I’m sharing with you today. It tastes and smells like the holidays. Since it’s been formulated to be shelf stable once canned, it’s made with cane sugar instead of the usual maple syrup that I reach for these days. You can use any orange you like here. For this batch I used cara cara oranges but originally I would make it with navel oranges.

Once canned, the marmalade is shelf stable for up to a year. This makes it perfect for gifting because it doesn’t require refrigeration! Since I’m a fan of handmade gifts (and baked goods), I’ve included a list below of my favorite gift-able items from the blog archives. And, I’ve paired them with suggestions for packaging and gifting!

Homemade Gift Guide

+ b a k e d g o o d s +

For a waste-free option, package cookies in wide-mouthed jars that can be used for storage once the cookies are gone. You can use simple mason jars or opt for pricier Weck jars. Feel free to tie a bit of yarn or twine around the top for a simple, but festive touch. Or, go the route I took with the marmalade, affixing a square of fabric under the lid ring.

These are my favorites for gifting: cocoa oat biscuits with rosemary & flaky sea salt, fresh mint & toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies, vanilla spice sugar cookies, & candied ginger snowballs

+ o t h e r e d i b l e g o o d s +

Canned jams and preserves already come in the perfect gifting vessel, just add a little fabric or yarn and you’re golden! If you want to go a step further and actually “gift wrap” them, try placing them in canvas or linen reusable produce bags. For items like tea, use jars, small tins, or compostable cello bags. You could also go a step further and buy a mug or teapot to accompany the tea.

These are my favorites for gifting: this cranberry marmalade (recipe below), homemade applesauce (this is a good one if you’ve got access to an abundance of local apples!), preserved lemons (citrus is in season in Texas right now so you might be able to find a tree and snag some!), digestive tisane (multiply the recipe times 10 or so and gift the tea with steeping instructions), & winter season sip (to make a larger amount, mix up equal parts tulsi & chamomile and print the meditation to go along with the tea)

Happy Holidays friends!! <3

Cranberry Marmalade

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 55-70 minutes
Yield: 4–5 half pint jars 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

6 cups (about 2 standard bags) of fresh or frozen cranberries
2 oranges (I used cara cara but navels are a good standard)
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 cups organic raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 half-pint (8 oz) mason jars with 2-piece lids

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a clean rimmed baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel. Take your 6 jars and unscrew the lids/rings. Set the jars and lids/rings on the kitchen towel on the baking sheet. When the oven is at 250, place the baking sheet in the oven. Leave the jars in the oven for at least 30 minutes to sterilize. This gives you time to make the marmalade.

If the cranberries are fresh, rinse them well and set them aside to drain. If you bought them frozen, they are already washed and ready to go. Prep your oranges by rinsing them well. Slice off the top and bottom of each orange, then cut them into long wedges. Remove any seeds you see and discard them. Take each wedge and slice it width-wise into small triangles. Add the cut oranges to a large stock pot along with the cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and spices. Stir to combine.

Bring the marmalade mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook the marmalade, stirring regularly, until most of the cranberries have burst, the oranges are tender, and the mixture has thickened to a jammy consistency. This will take between 15 and 25 minutes. Once it is done, remove the marmalade from the heat.

Remove the tray with your sterilized jars from the oven. Leave the jars on the baking sheet to make the process easier. Carefully fill each jar with marmalade leaving at least a quarter inch of headspace at the top (in other words, leave at least a quarter inch free between the top of the jar and the marmalade). The marmalade will fill 4 or 5 jars. Once you have your jars filled, use a clean knife to stir the marmalade in each jar a bit to help remove excess air bubbles. If the rims of the jars have any jam on them, clean it off with a damp towel. Screw the lids onto each jar until they are just finger tight (no need to put any muscle into it). Place the baking sheet with the filled jars back in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes remove the tray and set it aside so that the jars can begin to cool.

Let the jars sit undisturbed for one hour. You’ll hear the popping sound of the lids depressing as the jars cool and they seal themselves. After one hour check to make sure that the lids are sealed (the center “button” will be depressed). If any jars have not sealed, put them in the fridge and consume within a few weeks. Allow the sealed jars to cool overnight or for at least 12 hours. Un-opened sealed jars can be stored at room temperature in your pantry for up to one year.

Makes 4-5 half pint jars.

Notes

If you want to can these to be shelf stable, you’ll need to use mason jars with 2-piece lids made by Ball or Kerr. Make sure you’re using lids that have never been used/sealed before.
If you don’t want to can your marmalade, skip the canning steps and simply put your marmalade in a container in your fridge. Enjoy it within a month.
I’m using the oven method here instead of the water bath method because it’s much easier and doesn’t require the purchase of a canning pot!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45-60 minutes
Category: jam

a simple winter season sip + a tea meditation | plant-based magic via the sweet miscellany blog

Though I’ve been using herbs as a support system in my life over the past several years, this year I decided to dive deeper. I began the year reading books by Rosemary Gladstar, Rosalee de la Foret, and Paul Beyerl. I took copious notes on the herbs I read about and added my own after noticing how I experienced them in my body. I ordered several varieties of medicinal herb seeds to experiment with in my garden. I wanted to cultivate a deeper relationship with them by noticing how they responded to various temperatures, the soil they liked, and how much sun and water they required. And I wanted to be able to watch them grow from seed, observing every stage of life. Over the course of the year I began to notice how my needs changed with the seasons and what herbal allies worked best. And in doing all of this I realized how much there is to continue learning about. To continue experimenting with. To continue evolving and shifting.

One of my biggest herbal allies this year has been tulsi. I learned throughout the course of the year that it grows prolifically in my garden if given the chance. And every time I’m outside in the garden, if the breeze blows and I’m down wind from the tulsi, it carries the uniquely spicy, floral, and licorice-like scent to my nose. And it makes me pause, close my eyes, and smile. In the warmer months I used tulsi fresh as it was abundant, making sun teas, hydrosol, and even adding it to my food. As much as I was using fresh I was also harvesting to dry for use in the colder months.

Aside from really enjoying the taste and smell, tulsi has been a lovely support for my nervous system. It encourages me to slow down, check in with my breath, and cultivate presence. It gives me a boost when I’m feeling run-down, and it allows me to relax when my nerves are a bit frayed. Along with lovely chamomile, tulsi is the herb I’ve been turning to most as we move towards winter and the holiday season.

Since this time of year seems to always be accompanied by stress, I wanted to offer this simple herbal tea to sip on as well as a short meditation you can do while making (and enjoying) the tea. The goal of the meditation is to help you feel a bit more grounded and present while the herbs in the tea work on your nervous and digestive system. The tea meditation can be done any time of the day you feel you need the support. Though I have a specific tea blend listed below, please feel free to do this with any tea blend you like.

Winter Season Sip + Tea Meditation

for one serving you’ll need: 1 1/2 tsp dried tulsi and 1 1/2 tsp dried chamomile

Carefully select your mug. Maybe you choose a favorite that is aesthetically pleasing or one that feels right in your hands. Add the tea/herbs to your teapot (I tend to use a small french press). Close your eyes and smell the tea. Notice what thoughts or emotions might bubble up. Can you think of at least 3 words to describe the scent?

Set your water to boil. While the water is coming to a boil, close your eyes and notice the pace of your breath. Inhale, exhale. After five or so breaths, begin to even out the breath, making both inhale and exhale of equal length. Continue this even rate of breath. Allow the sound of the whistling kettle to draw your awareness to the present moment and open your eyes.

Pour 8 to 12 oz of the just-boiled water over your tea. Set a timer for the steep time of your tea (for this blend it will steep 10-15 minutes). As the tea steeps, close your eyes once again and this time check in with your body. Relax your shoulders. Release any clenching in your jaw, glutes, fingers, or toes. Can you feel for the back of your head balanced over the back of your heart and the back of your heart balanced over the back of your pelvis? Can you feel your feet evenly weighted on the floor, from front to back and right to left? Stand with ease. The longer you stand imagine your feet like roots, providing support for your body and connecting you to the stability and nourishment of the earth. Yield to the gentle sway that begins to happen in your body. As the timer sounds, open your eyes.

Strain your tea and pour it into the mug you’ve chosen. Sweeten or amend it as needed, then find a cozy spot to sit. Allow yourself the time and space to enjoy your tea without distractions. Savor each sip, noticing the flavors and how they may evolve as they hit your tongue. After the last sip, move on with the rest of your day.

Cranberry Marmalade + a Handmade Gift Guide