What’s old is new again.Canning and preserving is the new black. I don’t know how or when it happened, but real food is making a comeback. I don’t care how it got here, I am just glad it arrived.

You can see it in the faces of the people who shop at the local farmers market — they eye up the produce, find inspiration and mentally process the endless possibilities.

I grew up eating canned and preserved food, homemade jams and jellies, salsa and chutney. We had an apple tree in our yard and the hundred or so pounds that didn’t fall on the ground were turned into thick rich apple butter, a treat we savoured on buttered toast and with roasted pork all year long.

I am not sure if it is the economy that has people looking for ways to tighten their belts or if it’s an interest in knowing what actually goes into our food but more and more people are planning for canning.

Whether it’s cherries, berries or stone fruit, tomatoes, crab apples or salmon, I am seeing a resurgence in the tried and true art of preserving and I love it. The basic idea is that when food is in season and plentiful we come up with creative ways to transform it and preserve it so we can enjoy the bounty for the rest of the year. Turning tomatoes and peppers into salsa is ideal, fruit is easily transformed into beautifully seasoned chutneys and of course all those amazing little cucumbers quickly become spicy, sweet and sour or bread and butter discs of goodness.

So many incredible choices and recipes are available now, many more options than my grandmother or mother ever considered.

Macerate your berries in boiling vinegar to make fruit flavoured vinaigrettes all year long. Soak berries and fresh herbs in vodka and store it in the freezer for spectacular summer martinis in the dead of winter.

Blueberries and lemon zest make simply delicious dessert sauce or pancake syrup. Put a ribbon on one of your homemade creations and give it as a hostess gift or put several together for a Christmas gift anyone would be happy to receive. There are some significant safety rules to follow, you can get those from the Internet but there are no rules for what you might create to put in the jars. Have fun with it, make small batches and write down what you do so you can re-create it next year. Don’t forget to label and date your jars, store them in a cool dark place and you will be so happy you made the extra effort in February when on a particularly cold and rainy day you pull out the raspberry jam and drop a blob on your hot oatmeal. You will wonder why you didn’t start canning sooner and ponder the endless possibilities for next year.

Angie Quaale is owner of Well Seasoned Gourmet Food Store.