You know we dont have all the goodies you m,ention whre I live although its not in the desert its pretty hot, but when I lived in England My mom made everything you mention, she made blackberry wine ,it tasted like a port, one exploded and shot all over the ceiling My father ,always bad tempered, hit the roof ,literally,she made rice whiskey,
plum brandy, all the jellys (Jam) you can imagine Pickles, chutney, at Christmas she made her own Plum puddings wrapped in Muslim cloth and boiled, minceme