Celebrate Massachusetts Eat Local Month and learn how to make your own homemade jams from local stone fruit! Chef Afton Cyrus of Jam Sessions will offer a virtual cooking demonstration that will include an overview of food preservation basics, a demonstration of boiling water bath canning making Small-Batch Spiced Peach Jam from start to finish, and a Q&A session. We’ll cover food safety, canning do’s and don’ts, and recommended equipment and resources. This workshop is ideal for beginners just getting started as well as experienced canners seeking to refresh their skills and knowledge. You’ll leave with recipes and resources to can and preserve at home safely and confidently this growing season.

Registration is required.

About our instructor:

After working for a decade as a teacher and education program administrator in Boston, Afton Cyrus pivoted to pursue her passion for food professionally in 2014. She launched her own small business, Jam Sessions, through which she made and sold small-batch, locally-sourced jams and jellies throughout the Boston area. She continues to teach home canning and preserving workshops, including as an instructor at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. Her experience with recipe development for Jam Sessions led to an 8-year career at America's Test Kitchen, where she created and edited content for multiple New York Times Bestselling and IACP Award-winning cookbooks, including The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs, The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs, The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists, and Bread Illustrated. Today, she is a freelance recipe developer and food editor whose work appears in print and online for America's Test Kitchen, Serious Eats, and Ten Speed Press. She lives in Arlington, MA with her cat, Wesley, where she loves to grow vegetables in her garden, host elaborate meals for friends, and wax poetic about Maine, where she grew up and hopes to someday return.

Presented in partnership with Lexington Community Farm (LexFarm) and a multitude of MA libraries.

This program is made possible by the generous donors to the Cary Library Foundation.