Lingonberry is a plant that has long been used not only as a delicious berry, but also as a plant with pronounced medicinal properties, actively helping with diabetes as hypoglycemic, and with arterial hypertension as a hypotensive agent.
For this, not only ripe fruits, but also leaves are used, and therefore keeping lingonberries for the winter is a must for knowledgeable people. Of paramount importance is the correct method of harvesting it. So, if the berries should be picked only ripe, from August to September, then the leaves must be carefully cut back from April to the second half of May, when the buds are missing or are just starting to sprout. The reason for this is the maximum usefulness of the green parts of the plant at this time, but the leaves collected during the summer season quickly blacken and lose all the useful qualities that lingonberries have. Winter recipes for this unique berry are not difficult. This is drying, making
jam, jams, marmalade. It can also be stored fresh, mashed with sugar or soaked, and even more tasty and healthy will be its combination with other fruits or berries, for example, raspberries or cranberries.
Drying
Storage of lingonberries for the winter is facilitated by the high content of benzoic acid in it , due to which washed berries can simply be soaked in water or weak sugar syrup in a large, preferably wooden, container. So she lies unchanged for a whole season, but if the housewives want to enjoy this delicacy all year until the next harvest, then it is better to wash, dry and freeze the berries in plastic bags. Dried cranberries will be stored even longer. For its preparation, the washed berries must be laid out on a towel and left in the shade until the moisture evaporates completely, and then pour onto a baking sheet, put in an already preheated oven, turn it off and allow to cool completely. Storage of lingonberries for the winter, dried in this way, will be long if you put the berries in jars and tie with gauze instead of the lid.
Jam with honey
Extraordinarily tasty and healthy, a special cowberry jam made with honey is obtained. The beginning is very similar to the usual recipes: first you need to sort and wash the berries properly, and then blanch for about 2-3 minutes in boiling water. And here are the subtleties: to make a syrup, in which you need to cook lingonberries over low heat, per 1 kg of fruit, you will need 100 g of water, a pound of flower honey, a pinch of ground cinnamon, 2-3 buds of cloves and one teaspoon of fresh grated zest lemon. And 10 minutes before full readiness, you need to add 2-3 mint leaves, linden color and pink petals to the jam. Then, as usual, pack the resulting treat in dry jars and tightly close the lids. Storage of lingonberries for the winter in this form should be carried out in a dark, cool environment. The closet is best suited for this, not the basement, as the room should be dry and ventilated.