They're also a good way to enjoy fruits and vegetables long after a season has passed, as a way of using up surplus supplies, and to get a head start on Christmas-gifts-with-a-difference.

Bermudians are already familiar with jams and chutneys made from loquats, citrus fruits and cherries, but "Let's Preserve It'' by Beryl Wood shows how to utilise many of the other things which grow here to delicious effect.

Here's a sampling from this Bermuda Library book which contains no less than 579 recipes for preserving fruits, vegetables, and making jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, fruit butters and cheeses.

APPLE DATE PRESERVE 1 lb. cooking apples (when peeled and cored) 6 oz. seedless dates 1 lb. sugar juice of 1 lemon PUT apples in bowl, cover with sugar and lemon juice, let stand overnight. Put into pan on low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add chopped dates; cook to thick set.

APRICOT CURD 1 lb. apricots 1 lemon 1 lb. castor sugar 2 oz. butter 2 eggs water WASH fruit and slit, put in pan with very little water; cook slowly until tender. Remove stones, put fruit through liquidiser or coarse sieve; put into double saucepan (or bowl over boiling water) with sugar, butter, juice and rind of lemon. Stir until sugar dissolved. Add beaten eggs, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Bottle and cover immediately.

APRICOT AND LEMON MARMALADE 1 lb. dried apricots 1 lb. lemons 3 lbs. sugar 3 pints (60 oz.) water FINELY slice lemons, put pips in muslin bag. Put in bowl with apricots and water and let stand overnight. Remove to pan, simmer until soft. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Boil rapidly to set.

BENGAL CHUTNEY 15 large sour apples 1 lb. onions 1 lb. Demerara sugar 1 lb. seedless raisins 1 lb. garlic 3 pts. vinegar 2 oz. mustard seed 2 oz. ground ginger BAKE apples to pulp; remove skins and cores. Boil onions until tender in a little water. Peel, slice and boil garlic and skim. Put all ingredients in one pan and boil 15 minutes. Bottle and cover immediately.

SPICY FIG JAM 1 lb. dried figs 3 lbs. cooking apples Juice and rind of 3 lemons 21 lbs. sugar 11 pints (30 oz.) water 1 tsp. mixed spice REMOVE fig stalks. Peel and core apples. Rough chop both. Put in pan with water, spices, rind and juice of lemons. Simmer until tender. Add sugar, boil 5 minutes, stirring all the time, or until it sets.

If you do not like fig pips, put through liquidiser and/or sieve before adding sugar.

PICKLED LEMONS Lemons Salt Turmeric Garlic Small onions Cloves Root ginger Peppercorns Mustard seed White wine vinegar WIPE lemons, make four slits from end to end without cutting through; stuff slits with salt and sliver of garlic, put in bowl; cover and stand in warm place for 10 days, turning daily and basting with liquid. Remove lemons, rub each with turmeric; put in large jar, adding 1 small lemon spiked with cloves for each lemon. Cover with the juices. Boil together 1 pint (20 oz.) white wine vinegar with 2 oz. bruised root ginger, 1 oz. peppercorns and 2 oz.

mustard seed, all tied in muslin bag (or proportions of these quantities to completely cover lemons). Pour hot liquid over lemons, cover jar with plate and let stand. Next day add six small chillies and fasten jar down.

MINT CHUTNEY 1 lb. fresh mint 1 lb. onions 1 lb. green tomatoes 1 lb. cooking apples 3 lb. sultanas 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. dry mustard 1 pint (20 oz.) vinegar 1 lb. dark brown sugar WASH mint and drain well. Finely chop onions and mint, halve and quarter tomatoes. Peel, core and rough chop apples. (If preferred, all these ingredients may be put through a coarse mincer together). Put in pan with 3 pint (15 oz.) vinegar and all other ingredients except sugar, and simmer gently until tender. Make a syrup of remaining vinegar and sugar, add to mint mixture, bring to boil; simmer about 20 mins. or until thickened.

NASTURTIUM SAUCE 1 lb. nasturtium flowers 1 pint (20oz.) vinegar 4 shallots 3 cloves 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cayenne pepper Indian soy sauce PUT flowers in large jar. Simmer vinegar with spices, pour over flowers; cover closely and let stand for 2 months. Strain, add soy sauce to taste, then bottle and cork securely.

PARSLEY JELLY 6 ozs. parsley 3 lemons Sugar Water Green food colouring PUT parsley in pan with water just to cover and chopped peel of 1 lemon. Boil for 1 hour. Strain. Put liquid in pan with juice of the 3 lemons and 1 lb.

sugar per pint (20 oz.) liquid, stirring until dissolved. Boil until nearly set. Add a few drops of green food colouring. Boil to set. Bottle and cover at once.

PASSION FRUIT JAM Passion fruit Sugar Lemon SCOOP pulp from fruit, put in pan with juice of 1 lemon and 1 lb. sugar per pint (20 oz.) pulp. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil fast to set.

When fresh passion fruit is not available, make this jam with tinned fruit as follows: Canned passion fruit Sugar Lemon PULP fruit, and if already sweetened use only 1 lb. sugar per pint (20 oz.) of pulp. Then continue as above.

PEACH AND RASPBERRY JAM 2 lbs. fresh peaches, skinned and stoned 2 lbs. raspberries 1 pint (5 oz.) water 3 lbs. sugar SLICE peaches. Crack some of the stones to obtain kernels. Put all fruit, water and kernels into pan and cook slowly until tender. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Boil 15-20 mins., stirring occasionally, until set.

PRUNE AND NUT CHUTNEY 1 lb. prunes 3 lb. cooking apples (when peeled and cored) 10 oz. dark brown sugar 1 pint (10 oz.) wine vinegar 1 lb. hazelnuts 1 tsp. curry powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. allspice Pinch of cayenne WASH prunes, cover with boiling water. Let stand overnight. Finely chop apples, simmer with a little sugar until soft. Remove prune seeds and chop fruit. Add to apple with all other ingredients. Boil for about 45 mins., stirring constantly, until thickened. Bottle and cover at once.

QUINCE CHEESE Quinces Sugar Lemon Water CHOP fruit; simmer in very little water until soft. Liquidise and/or sieve.

Put in pan with 1 lb. sugar per 1 lb. pulp, stirring until dissolved. Boil fast to set.

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