
Montreal in winter: everything fades to gray and white, the earth sits frozen under a blanket of slush and ice, and leafless tree branches shiver in an unforgiving wind that adds the dreaded “wind chill factor,” making minus five feel like minus 18. So, as you can well imagine, fresh local produce is non-existent and canning exploits can slow down to a trickle. But the other day I got a little of the old canning mojo back after a long slump and so I went searching for the best darn dried figs I could find. My goal: to brew up a tasty batch of dried fig and vanilla jam.

What I learned on my search for plump, soft dried figs and not sad little fossilized figs, was to look for stickers that say “New Crop.” Meaning, these figs were picked this past season and so are the freshest possible dried figs. Hurrah! I found mine at my favourite Little Italy grocer-deli, Milano. The resulting jam is dense, dark brown and reminiscent of Fig Newtons. Maybe it’s the vanilla that lends that cookie-ish vibe, also its dense, crunchy-seedy dried fig texture. So, if you have fond childhood memories of snacking on Fig Newtons, you’re in for a treat.

Dried fig and vanilla jam
2 lbs dried figs, preferably “new crop”
5.5 cups water
2.5 cups sugar
juice of half a lemon
1 vanilla pod
Bring figs and water to a boil, turn off the heat and allow to soak for anywhere from a few hours to overnight. Remove the figs with a slotted spoon, reserving water. Cut off the tough stems and chop the rehydrated figs roughly. Return figs to the pot, adding sugar, lemon juice and vanilla pod which has been split it open, seeds scraped into fruit mixture pod thrown in too. Bring to a low boil and cook until desired thickness is reached (I cooked mine about 35 minutes), stirring often. Pour into hot clean jars then process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

PS: On a more somber note, words can’t express the tragic insanity of the current situation in Haiti. It’s the worst human tragedy since the tsunami of 2004. If you haven’t already donated, here’s a link to the CBC page that lists all kinds of charities that are hustling to help the most desperate people on the planet right now: http://www.cbc.ca/haitirelief/






















This is where I introduce you to my new weekly round-up of recent canning-related news and recipes from around the web. Why a round-up? Because the journalist in me loves nothing more than corralling information into run-downs, top-ten-lists, wrap-ups etc. using bullet points and snappy prose. Plus, it’s fun to find out about the latest preserving and canning stuff that’s floating around in the online ether. So, without further ado: