Puttin' Up Preserves

Summer hasn't given up the ghost. Not in Colorado, anyway. The nights are cool and fresh but by four o'clock the mercury is pushing the high nineties. Before autumn rolls in for real, I invited some friends for my 5th annual preserves party. It is always so much fun to cook for people I love, reconnect after hectic summers, and share what we preserved.

I cooked all day and here's what I came up with: white peach and plum prosecco sangria, beet chickpea cakes with tzatziki, cherry tomato crostini with ricotta and basil, triple cream Brie and aged Gouda with plum cardamon conserve and peach jam, Moroccan spiced olives, and blackberry tartlets with vanilla mascarpone cream. My friends brought a bunch of other dishes and we ate like queens.

Look at all this summer bounty! Homegrown lemon squashes, jam from Kathy's jam company Modern Gingham, roasted coffee from Hannah's coffeeshop Copper Door Coffee Roasters, espresso dark chocolate toffee, Thai-spiced pickled carrots, peach-red pepper relish, and my peach marmalade and plum jam. It is so fun to gather up the loot at the end of the night.

I just adore party leftovers--especially this party!