Autumn is almost here

As I remember, this is the time of year when my mother spent lots of time cooking down all the fruit we had collected and made jam and other stuff out of it.
So here we are, having an over abundance of figs from Aariel and Ryan's garden, and we've decided to make chutney.  After exhausting all possibilities for a recipe on the internet - either we did not have all the ingredients or it did not sound right - Patricia decided to make up her own, after all, her Master's in Food Technology must be good for something other then keeping me out of trouble.
Here goes. We decided to create a

Fig Cranberry Ginger Chutney

You take about 30 (thirty) fat ripe figs,

1/3 cup of finely chopped shallot and sautee it,

add 1/2 cup of dried orange cranberries
and 1/3 cup candied chopped ginger ,

and one chopped apple. 

We also added a few green and black olives

Then comes the part where you have to use your
intuition, adding about 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar,
1tsp of Spike or salt, 1/4 cup of sugar and some
black pepper.

Everything is put into a pot with a little water to start and cooked for about 60 minutes until it reduces to the desired consistency.

Then adjust the sweet-savory and salt-vinegar taste with some sugar, salt or balsamic vinegar.

Last, you enjoy it with or on whatever you want.

If you like this recipe, here is another for Fig Strawberry Jam, which we also made.

Fig Strawberry Jam (with Ginger, if desired)

4.5 lb fresh picked figs, quartered

2.5 lb Strawberries, sliced

¼ c. diced crystallized ginger (optional)

2.5 c. sugar

2 boxes of Pectin (sugar free – pink box)

½ c. fresh lemon juice

1 Tb. Vanilla (added after it finishes boiling)

Mix the Pectin with the sugar. Add to the combined fruit in a large heavy bottom pot.  Mix and add the lemon juice.  Mash slightly or use a wand blender sparingly.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 min.  Check the thickness and adjust your cook time accordingly.  Check with a metal spoon in cold water.  If it sets up to the desired consistency, it’s done.  If not, cook longer until you reach that point.  As it cools down, add the vanilla.

Fill sterile jars to within ¼ inch of top. Put on the lids and screw tops and boil in water to cover by 2 inches for 5-10 minutes.  Remove; let cool on a rack. Lids should pop as the jars cool.

Guten appetit, or as we say in Freiburg, 'Mahlzeit.' You figure out the translation for yourself.