Cranberry Mustard

 This recipe is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s great with steak, add it to melted butter and use as a sauce. Try it with ham, or even as a sandwich spread for turkey. The amount of cranberries called for should be in one bag but by the time I picked out the soft ones I had to open another bag. 

MAKES ABOUT SEVEN 4-OUNCE JARS

1 cup	red wine vinegar
⅔ cup	yellow mustard seeds
1 cup	water
1 tbsp	Worcestershire sauce
2¾ cups	cranberries (fresh or frozen)
¾ cup	granulated sugar
¼ cup	dry mustard
2½ tsp	ground allspice

In a medium stainless steel saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and add mustard seeds. Cover and let stand at room temperature until seeds have absorbed most of the moisture, about 1½ hours.

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
2. In a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine marinated mustard seeds (with liquid), water and Worcestershire sauce. Process until blended and most seeds are well chopped.
   (You want to retain a slightly grainy texture.) Add cranberries and blend until chopped
3. Transfer mixture to a stainless steel saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Whisk in sugar, dry mustard and allspice. Continue to boil gently over low heat, stirring frequently, until volume is reduced by a third, about 15 minutes.
4. Ladle hot mustard into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more hot mustard. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Canned Bread Pudding

 

As with my prior recipe for rice pudding, safely store these in the refrigerator. They are so good microwaved and eaten straight out of the jar, either for breakfast or dessert! You can use dried cranberries instead of raisins. I played around with the spices because nutmeg can be overpowering. I doubled this recipe to make 12 jars. One batch was made as this recipe, the next I used 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp allspice. Delicious and easy to make! 

BREAD PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Cubed Bread

1/4 cup Raisins

2 Eggs Slightly Beaten

2 cups Milk

¼ cup Melted Butter (1/2 stick) 

½ cup Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Wash and sterilize 6, 1/2 pint jars. Lightly oil the inside of the jar. Divide bread pieces on the bottom of the jars, add 8 raisins to each jar. Melt butter in saucepan and add milk to warm it up. Add sugar to dissolve it then add spices and slowly add the egg, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and using a canning funnel, cover bread and raisins with custard mixture, just up to the neck of the jar. Place on a cookie in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on the top.

The pudding will try to escape while baking but rest assured, it will calm down when it comes out of the oven. Immediately wipe rims of jars and put on lids and rings. They will start to ping shortly. 

Updated Feb 2026: 

There’s something about baking dessert in little glass jars that makes it feel instantly special. The first time I made this bread pudding, I tucked the jars into a shallow water bath in the oven and hoped for the best — and what came out was warm, custardy, perfectly portioned comfort food.

The only problem? I hadn’t made enough custard. The second time around, I doubled it, and that’s when this recipe really became a keeper.

Now I make these when I want a dessert that feels homey but still gift-worthy. They travel well, reheat beautifully, and somehow feel more personal than a big pan of pudding. Tie a ribbon around the jar, and you’ve got a dessert that says I made this just for you.

Oven-Baked Bread Pudding in Jars

(Makes 9 half-pint jars)

Ingredients

Bread base

• About 9 cups cubed bread
  (½- to 1-inch cubes; challah, brioche, or sturdy white bread work best)
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• Optional: ½ cup raisins, chocolate chips, or diced apple

Custard filling (DOUBLED version — this is the one that works!)

• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup 1/2 n 1/2
  (or substitute milk if needed)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt

Instructions

1. Prep oven and jars

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Butter or spray 9 half-pint jars
3. Place them in a baking dish or roasting pan

2. Fill jars

1. Toss bread cubes with melted butter
2. Divide evenly into jars
3. Add any mix-ins if using

Do not pack tightly — the custard needs room to soak in.

3. Make the custard

Whisk together:

• eggs
• milk
• cream
• sugars
• vanilla
• spices
• salt

Pour slowly into jars until bread is fully saturated but not floating.

Let sit 10 minutes so the bread absorbs the custard.

4. Bake in shallow water bath

1. Pour hot water into the pan so it comes about ½–1 inch up the jars
2. Bake 35–45 minutes

About 40 minutes is perfect

They’re done when:

• tops are golden
• centers are set but still soft
• knife inserted comes out moist, not liquid

5. Cool

Let jars cool in pan 10–15 minutes, then remove to rack.

Serve warm or refrigerate and reheat gently.

These bread pudding jars make wonderful edible gifts for neighbors, teachers, holiday baskets, or weekend hosts.

To gift them:

1. Let jars cool completely after baking.
2. Wipe rims clean and screw lids on loosely until fully cooled.
3. Refrigerate up to 4 days.

For gifting:

• Tighten lids once chilled
• Add ribbon or twine
• Include a small tag with reheating instructions

Reheating instructions to include on the tag:

Warm in a 325°F oven for 15–20 minutes

OR microwave (lid off) for 30–45 seconds

These jars also freeze beautifully. If gifting from frozen, just include a note to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Canned No sugar cranberry juice

100%. no sugar added Cranberry juice

3 lbs (4, 12oz bags) of cranberries to 4 qts of water, bring to a simmer for 10 minutes . Cranberries will pop open. Strain through a jelly bag or double layer of cheesecloth . 

 Return pulp to pot, add 2 more quarts of water.

Bring to simmer for 5 min. Strain using same method above. 

 Return pulp to pot one last time with 1 qt of water. Bring to simmer for 5 mins and Strain again. 

 You now have 7 quarts of strained juice.  Heat this juice to 180°, have 7 sterilized jars, flats and rings. Have water bath simmering . 

 Ladle into quarts jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims, put on flats and screw lids finger tight. 

 Place in Water bath, bring to a boil and boil pints and quarts for 10 min.

 After allotted time, turn off heat and allow to sit for 5 min. Remove from canner, place on a towel, cover with another towel so they cool down slowly and don't explode or shatter from cooling down too quickly .

 Allow to sit undisturbed for 24 hrs. Check jars, remove rings and store in pantry . If any have not sealed place in refrigerator and use within 2 weeks. Enjoy. 

Christmas Jam

 YIELD: 6 1/2 PINT JARS

Christmas Jam

This delicious, festive Christmas jam is the perfect blend of holiday goodies and perfect for gift giving.

Ingredients

• 12 Oz Cranberries 
• 1 Orange, peeled and sectioned
• 2 t Orange Zest, from the peel
• 16 Oz Strawberries (thaw if you use frozen)
• 1/4 t Ground Cloves
• 1/4 t Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 t Allspice
• 4 C Sugar
• 1 Package Powder Fruit Pectin
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions

1. Wash jars, lids, and rings. Fill jars 2/3rds full of water and place in water-bath canner. Fill with water. Put canner on stove over medium-high heat to sterilize jars while you make the jam.
2. Place lids in a small saucepan covered with water. Boil over medium-high heat while you make the jam. Set rings to the side, they don't need sterilized.
3. Place cranberries and sectioned orange into a blender. You just want them coarsely chopped. My blender has a food chop option, and I use that.
4. Add in the strawberries, orange zest and spices. Stir a bit in the blender to make sure they get mixed a little. Blend until everything is chopped fine. You don't want it pureed.
5. Stir fruit mixture and water together in a 5 qt stock pot.
6. Stir in fruit pectin and add your 1/2 teaspoon of butter (this reduces foaming).
7. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, stir constantly.
8. Add sugar to the mixture. Return to full rolling boil. Boil exactly 1 minute.
9. Remove from heat. Using a metal spoon, skim off any foam.
10. Immediately ladle into jars and wipe of rims, screw on lids & bands. When all jars are filled, place jars into canner. 
11. Cover canner, bring back to boil, start timer for 10 minutes. 
12. After 10 min, turn off heat and let stand 5 min before removing. 
13. Remove jars to towel lined tray to cool. Check seals after 24 hours. 
14. If any didn’t seal, refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.