When a garden’s bounty of fresh produce exceeds the amount of consumption, William Furlong recommends canning before any of the fruits and vegetables spoil.

Furlong, who served as executive chef at 208 South Lamar in Oxford and now serves as the food and beverage manager at DiamondJacks Casino, is scheduled to teach a jellies and jam canning workshop at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center Tuesday.

“The canning workshop is going along with our farmers’ market workshop that was held at the SCHC earlier this year,” said Furlong.

The canning workshop was a joint idea Furlong said with SCHC Executive Director Annette Kirklin.

“We try to do something different,” he said, adding this was a way to continue to be creative about offering seasonal cooking workshops.

“Young people have been requesting a canning workshop,” Kirklin said. “They are wanting to learn skills that their grandparents used to do.”

Furlong said the class won’t just be about canning, however. He admits he didn’t grow up producing or canning, but with the popularity of cooking shows on the rise so is the need to preserve various types of produce.

Furlong said the class will cover some general cooking knowledge along with the basic canning and preserving skills.

“In addition to demonstrating and sampling recipes, the students will each receive a jar of each recipe,” he said.

Furlong said demonstrations will include one of his favorite recipes, pickled squash.

“The recipe came from Xyelda Phillips from Tunica,” he said. “She is a retired home economics teacher and mother of my best friend from college. It is a different and delicious way to use squash.”

Furlong started out teaching a sushi workshop at the SCHC and now his cooking classes have become so popular the SCHC has added advanced sushi workshops along with many other seasonal workshops throughout the year.

A children’s cooking workshop was held earlier this week and Kirklin said she is excited to add something for the children.

The jellies and jam canning workshop class is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30p.m. Tuesday and the cost is $35 for members and $40 for nonmembers.

For more information call 601-631-2997 or visit info@southernculture.org.

Pickled Squash

8 cups squash, thinly sliced

2 cups sweet onion, Vidalia or yellow, thinly sliced

4 large green bell peppers seeded and chopped into 1⁄2 inch pieces

1 cup kosher salt

Ice to cover

3 cups sugar

3 cups white vinegar

2 tablespoons celery seed

2 tablespoons mustard seed

2 tablespoons turmeric

1 tablespoon alum

Bring sugar, vinegar, celery seed, mustard seed, turmeric and alum to a boil. Drain squash/onion/peppers. Add squash/onions/peppers to boiling mixture. Boil 3 minutes. Pack into jars and seal. Makes 7-8 pints.

Lemony-Blueberry Preserves

4 cups fresh blueberries

2 cups sugar

1 (3 ounce) package lemon flavored gelatin

Zest of 1 lemon

In a large saucepan, slightly crush 2 cups of blueberries. Add remaining berries, lemon zest, and sugar, mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Pour hot jam into jars or containers. Cover and cool. Refrigerate.