Heather Audrisch Haywood doesn’t do anything half way.
I met her last year when we worked together on public relations for Goodwill Industries of Arkansas. One morning, I walked into our suite, my dress clinging to me like child with separation issues. I kept pulling at my hem and finally asked Heather if she had any static guard. Of course, she did.
I spritzed a dainty bit, which helped not at all. Heather gave me the drollest look and said, “Girl. That will NOT cut it. Come here.”
And she yanked my skirt away from my legs and sprayed a healthy dose of static guard ALL around. “Well,” I said as she capped the bottle. “We’re friends now.”
Taking care of business isn’t the only thing Heather and I have in common. We both come from Arkansas farm families and grew up “puttin’ up” vegetables and fruits from gardens, truck patches, fields and orchards our families have. Heather’s paternal grandparent had a peach orchard in Union County, and her Grandmother Audrisch, who operated a café there, made a peach pickle with Indian peaches from her husband’s trees. She also picked blackberries, taking Heather with her, and made jam from their haul. Her maternal grandparents always had a garden, and Heather remembers having to shell peas before she could go to the pool in the summers.
“We canned everything,” she said. “After I was grown, I continued that tradition by making my own jam and preserves as gifts for neighbors and coworkers. That lead me to entering the Arkansas County Fair last year, and it was a hoot. I plan to do it again this fall.”
Heather, who lives with her husband Ken and black Labrador retriever River in Stuttgart, took home seven first place ribbons for her entries in the county fair: one each for her blueberry, cherry, blackberry and plum jam and preserves and one for best in show.
“I loved every minute of it,” she said. “I plan to go back this year to defend my title, and I’m already thinking of what I’ll enter.”
The secret to Heather’s winning recipe is freezing fresh fruit in the summer. “When I make jams and preserves in the fall, the flavor is more robust, and it doesn’t seem to foam as much when you cook it.”
She has even become somewhat of a legend among her friends and family members as they reserve her preserves for special occasions.
“I’ve had people tell me that they save my preserves for Christmas morning,” she said. “It’s become a part of their tradition, and I’m proud they think what I’ve made is special enough to save for the people they love most. That’s what I like about canning and preserving food. It brings together family and tradition, and you know exactly what’s inside and what you’re feeding your loved ones. More and more people are coming back to canning, and the process and equipment has much improved from the time I did it as a kid. I would encourage anyone to try it.”
In addition to jam and preserves, Heather makes homemade mustard and is experimenting with homemade body lotion using only organic ingredients. If that weren’t enough, Heather says that if you return her jars, she’ll refill it for you.
Ingredients
- 4 cups prepared blueberries (washed and crushed)
- 1 1.75-ounce box Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin
- 4 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
- NOTE: This recipe was adapted from the Sure-Jell fruit jam and preserves recipe.
- Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
- Measure exactly 4 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-quart saucepot.
- Stir pectin into crushed blueberries in saucepot. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly one minute while stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
- Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within a quarter inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by one-to-two inches. Add boiling water, if needed.)
- Cover; bring water to boil.
- Process 10 minutes then remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely.
- After jars are cool, check seals by pressing middle of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed. However, you can refrigerate these jars to consume safely within a week.)
writer, public relations practitioner and aspiring author in Little Rock. She owns Flywrite Communications Inc., a marketing communications agency in Mabelvale. She is a six-time recipient of the Public Relations Society of America’s Prism award and has been published statewide as well as in the Arkansas Times, Inviting Arkansas, Savvy Magazine, Bourbon & Boots, Arkansas Money & Politics, Delta Farm Press and Rice Farmer magazine, among others.