My favorite way to preserve berries is to use a tweaked lacto-fermented preserves recipe in Nourishing Traditions. Using lacto-fermentation increases vitamins, enzymes and probiotics, making these preserves even better than the berries alone. What conventional jam can boast that? I will demonstrate these preserves as well as a few variations in the fermenting class.

I recently tweaked my mom’s famous cranberry-orange-apple relish recipe to add a fermentation stage. Natural fermentation adds probiotic benefits and beneficial acids for the gut, as well as increases the vitamins and enzymes. As if that weren’t enough, this relish (like many other lacto-fermented foods) is incredibly yummy. If you start a batch early this week, it will be ready for Christmas dinner.