Instructions: For the past few years Ive felt the urge each summer to learn to "put up" the fruits of the season. I remember my mother perfecting her top-notch canned peaches and watermelon rind pickles. The glossy photographs of simmering, jewel-toned preserves featured in food magazines have always been my goal. This year, I decided to learn.

First Things First

This being Maine and the heart of strawberry season, I decided to try my hand first at classic strawberry preserves. My aim was to learn the old-fashioned technique for making preserves, which calls for processing the filled jars in boiling water for a few minutes.

While there are simpler, newer methods that dont call for processing, I felt I needed to learn the basics. Also, theres something romantic, in a way, about preserving food in the same way that people have done at home for many, many years. I was hoping the experience would mentally transport me back to a simpler time when women proudly brought out their home-canned goods for company and holiday time, happy that they had planned ahead so diligently.

So my first step was to read up on the subject. I bought the "Ball Blue Book," (a reference and cookbook published by the Ball canning jar company), a "boiling water canner" - which consists of a large pot with a canning rack - and a box of pint-sized jars with lids and rings.

I also bought a package of powdered pectin, two quarts of local berries and cute canning labels.

Truth be told, despite the fact that Ive read numerous recipes for preserves and was vaguely familiar with the techniques required, I was dumbstruck by the volume of reading that the Ball company deemed necessary before I even washed the berries! I felt almost like I was cramming for a final in one of my college food science classes.

After much puttering and fussing in the kitchen -gathering utensils, washing, drying, boiling equipment, etc. - I was ready to begin. Making the actual preserve mixture was a breeze, but getting it into the jars and processed as fast as humanly possible (in order to prevent microbial contaminants from finding their ways into the jars) wasnt easy.

Remember that "I Love Lucy" episode in which Lucy and Ethel worked in the chocolate shop and the conveyer belt kept speeding up on them? That was how I felt, only instead of a chocolate which I could easily pop into my mouth like Lucy did, I was dealing with boiling strawberries.

Nevertheless, I survived, and by the time I finished the batch, I felt much more confident in my ability to ladle the preserves into the jars and complete the processing steps without any Lucy-sized disasters.

The Moment of Truth

After waiting the specified length of time for cooling, in this case 12 to 24 hours, I tested each jar to see if it was sealed. Out of my seven jars, only one failed to seal properly, much to my delight. I opted not to re-process that one jar - so it is sitting in my refrigerator now, having already been sampled and approved of by my two-year-old son.

All in all, Im glad I finally went ahead and learned how to make preserves.

While there wasnt much time during the process to gaze out the window and feel re-connected with women from times gone by, it was a fulfilling experience.

I learned a new skill, Ive saved a taste of summer for my family to enjoy later in the year, and I feel a little bit more like a provider. And I didnt need any new-fangled gadgets, a freezer or anything complicated. Its amazing really, that such a rudimentary process that focuses on boiling water actually works!

The key to making it easy, it seems, is preparation. Setting out all the tools, having everything prepped as far ahead as possible, will make the whole process much easier to manage. Now that I have a little better idea of the timing of the steps, Im confident that I can do it again and I plan to. Now, wheres Moms recipe for watermelon rind pickles?

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