BASIC CHUTNEY
5 cups fruit (apples, peaches, plums, pears, whatever is in season) chopped in about 1” pieces
1 lemon (preferably organic), cleaned, seeded and chopped fine (peel and all)
1 cup chopped dried apricots
2 cups sugar (brown or white)
2 cups cider vinegar (can be a combination of red, rice, and wine vinegar if you wish)
1 ½ cups raisins (golden or dark)
4 oz candied ginger, chopped
1 clove garlic minced
¼ cup onion minced
1 ½ tsp salt
3 squirts Tabasco sauce
2 small red chilies (dried or fresh)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer, uncovered, until fruit is tender but not mushy (about 1-1½ hours). Stir occasionally with wooden spoon during cooking. The chutney will thicken up. Refrigerate in sterilized jars after cooling. Or pour into sterilized jars, leaving ¼” headspace. Seal. Process 10 minutes.

Most of us need recipes to use up the zucchini, especially the ones that get too big.

GINGERED ZUCCHINI MARMALADE

2 oranges
2 lemons
3 tbsp chopped gingerroot
5 cups shredded peeled zucchini
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and grated. Granny Smith is a good choice.
4 cups granulated sugar

1. Remove peel from each orange in one long strip. Cut the peel into thin strips and place in large pot. Remove white pith from oranges and peel and pith from lemon. Set the fruit aside. Tie orange and lemon pith and peel and gingerroot in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag. Add to saucepan with slivers of orange peel.
2. Working over the pot to catch juice and using a small sharp knife, separate orange and lemon segments from membrane. Place segments in saucepan and squeeze membrane to remove as much juice as possible, collecting it in the pot.
3. Add zucchini, apple, and sugar to pot and mix. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches gel stage ,about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and test. If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam. (Or continue cooking a few minutes longer after adding 1 tsp butter while stirring.)
4. While it’s cooking, prepare jars, lids, canner.
5. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rim. Screw on lids.
6. Put jars in canner, so they are completely covered with water and boil for 10 minutes. Allow to cool 50 min. in canner with lid off, remove label and store.