SHARE These lime-mint freezer pickles are covered and chilled 8 hours before being placed in jars and frozen. The recipe is from the New Ball Jar Canning cookbook, Oxmoor House. Oxmoor House/Special to the News Sentinel "The All New Ball Book of Caning and Preserving" shows how to transform any orange-fleshed melon into melon jam. Oxmoor House/News Sentinel Thai green tomato chutney includes plums, Thai chili peppers, fresh cilantro and garlic.

By Mary Constantine of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Photos of preserved foods are cropping up on Instagram and Facebook. It happens this time each year, and it causes me to go green with envy.

Gone are the days of yearning for a new pair of shoes, a new piece of furniture or even a tropical vacation. Nope; all I want is a pantry full of preserved fruits and vegetables like my thrifty friends on social media.

If you're planning to try your hand at canning, a great source would be the recently released "The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving" cookbook (Oxmoor, $22.95).

The chapter titled "Canning and Preserving 101" shows how water-bath and pressure canning works and delves into other preservation options including curing and smoking, freezing, fermentation and dehydration.

There is a guide for "Jelly in 5 Easy Steps," "Homemade Pie Filling in 3 Easy Steps," and a chart on how to select, prepare and package for freezing fruits and vegetables.

There's also a chart that shows the relative pH balance of certain foods with accompanying info that tells what to look for to ensure spoilage has not occurred.

Much of that sounds intimidating but the book's step-by-step visual guides help simplify the processes.

There are approximately 350 "canned, jammed, pickled and preserved" recipes in the book. The traditional items, such as refrigerator pickles, sauerkraut and pickled drilled beans, are represented as are unusual items such as pear-roasted garlic preserves, ginger bug (a fermented ginger beverage), Asian-style carrot-and-daikon pickles and smoky sour cherry-tequila salsa.

Plus, once you've got all those canned goods in your pantry the book offers recipes to utilize the products.

Check out the recipes below, which are featured in the book, and if they intrigue you call your local bookstore for purchase.

MELON JAM

Makes about 5 (1⁄2-pt.) jars

INGREDIENTS

14 cups 1-inch cantaloupe or other orange-fleshed melon cubes (about 2 large melons)

1⁄4 cup kosher salt

4 cups sugar

3⁄4 cup bottled lemon juice

1 tablespoon crushed pink peppercorns (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1 Toss together melon and salt in a large bowl. Cover and let stand 2 hours. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain.

2 Stir together melon, sugar, and lemon juice in a 6-quart stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until melon is soft. Mash melon pieces with a potato masher. Simmer, uncovered, stirring often, about 1 hour to gelling point. Gelling point is achieved once thermometer reads approximately 220 degrees.(Melons release a lot of water, so cooking time may vary.) Skim foam, if necessary, and, if desired, stir in peppercorns.

3 Ladle hot jam into a hot jar, leaving 1⁄4-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band, and adjust to fingertip-tight. Place jar in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

4 Process jars 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat; remove lid, and let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Note: Serve with floral soft and hard cheeses and water crackers.

LIME-MINT FREEZER PICKLES

Yields about 6 (1⁄2-pint) jars

INGREDIENTS

2 1⁄2 pounds (3- to 5-inch) pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons Ball salt for pickling & preserving

2 large limes

1 1⁄2 cups sugar

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

3⁄4 cup white vinegar (5% acidity)

1⁄2 cup thinly sliced small sweet onion (separated into rings)

1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh mint

2 garlic cloves, minced

DIRECTIONS

1 Toss together sliced cucumber slices and salt in a large glass or nonmetallic bowl. Cover and let stand 3 hours; drain and return to bowl.

2 Zest limes and squeeze juice to measure 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) zest and 1⁄4 cup (60 mL) juice, respectively.

3 Add lime zest, lime juice, sugar, and remaining ingredients to cucumber slices; stir well. Cover and chill 8 hours.

4 Drain cucumber mixture, reserving liquid. Pack cucumbers into jars, leaving 1-inch (2.5-cm) head space. Pour reserved liquid over cucumber mixture, leaving 1⁄2-inch (1-cm) head space. Center lid on jars. Apply bands, and adjust loosely. Once pickles are frozen, adjust bands to fingertip-tight. Store in freezer 6 months. Thaw in refrigerator. Refrigerate after thawing, and use within 3 weeks.

Note: For a Mexican twist, use chopped cilantro and minced garlic in place of mint.

THAI GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

Yields about 5 jars

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds red plums, pitted and coarsely chopped (See note)

1 1⁄2 pounds green tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped

1 1⁄3 cups diced onion (1 large onion)

3⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1⁄2 cup rice vinegar

1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Thai chili peppers, minced (see note)

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1 Bring first 7 ingredients to a boil in a 6-quart stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until fruit begins to soften. Add chili peppers and salt; simmer, stirring constantly, 25 minutes or until very thick. Stir in cilantro. Remove from heat.

2 Ladle hot chutney into a hot jar, leaving 1⁄2-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band, and adjust to fingertip-tight. Place jar in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

3 Process jars 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat; remove lid, and let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Note: Other varieties of plums, such as Italian prune plums, pluots, and green damson plums work nicely too. One-half to 1 teaspoon ground red pepper may be substituted for Thai chili peppers. The chutney is great served with grilled eggplant, cherry peppers, and cilantro.