Jam

I be jammin in the kitchen.
I don't can as much as I use to, but I still make jam and jelly.
Last year we ran out and it was a disaster in the making.
I tried buying a few jars just to see how they tasted and was sorely disappointed. If you know of a good, no, a great jam company, I might be willing to try them.
The peach I make has only sugar, lemon juice and crushed peaches.
 I have made this recipe for many years and it has only failed me once.
 

 The year it failed it candied in the jar. There was no way to get it out of the jar, it was sticky, sticky, and stuck. I thought and thought about what happened and then had an idea. I poured rum in one jar, tequila in another jar, and peach schnapps in another, then every so often I would stick a knife in, and allow the alcohol to start working on breaking down the sugars. After a few months  I could shake the jars, then months later I had the best alcohol infused peach syrup that we poured over ice cream.
It was freaking fabulous.

 On my way to the studio yesterday I was surprised to find some late blooming magnolias. The deepness of the petals has always made me think of the clean, sun dried, white sheets of my youth. I always want to open my arms and fall in.
Beauty.

I am on my way out to finish glazing and load a kiln. Yep, on my way, right now, here I go.

Now we are talking about Jam

 I have a little book that I bought when I first moved here 1976-1977. This book is put out by the Ball canning company The cover is now gone and many of the pages are splattered  with bits of this and that. In that little book are packed more useful information than many of the books written on canning. It has simple instructions on prep, care, safety and some of the best jam, jelly preserve recipes I have used.

I have early memories of picking fruit with my grandmother, brothers and sisters. After we were done, she would take the fruit and turn it into the best jams, jellies and preserves. I  remember how hot it was in the kitchen and how much I wanted to be in there with her. The kitchen was small and hot and I am sure now she wanted to keep me safe from the boiling water. It would be years before I would take it on my own to step into her role and make the jams, jellies and preserves of my youth. I always use the fruits that are local, in season and as fresh as possible.
The prep part is the major part of the work.
One you have done the prep the making is the easy part.

July is my favorite time to pick up peaches.

Peach Jam
2 quarts of peeled, crushed peaches
1 Tbs. lemon juice
6 cups of sugar
Combine peaches and sugar, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally
until sugar dissolves. Cook until thick; the recipe says 15 minutes, but I cook longer and slower, until it turns a golden color and is more jam like. Be sure and skim off the foam as you go along. Before you pack in jars make sure you have taken all the foam off. Once it is the thickness that you want, pack in clean, hot jars and water bath for 10-15 minutes.
Remove, let them sit for 24 hours before you store them.


The last two days I have been working on Blackberry Jelly.
I extract the juice by heating the berries, straining them and then letting the juice stand overnight. I find that the juice will settle leaving you a nice clear juice at the top. I use that juice for the jelly.
Here is the recipe.
Blackberry Jelly
4 cups of Blackberry juice
I Tbs. lemon juice
3 cups of sugar
Heat juice, lemon and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil.
As it is boiling, skim off the foam.
I boil this until it hits the jelly stage. It takes at least 30 minutes.
I can't give you exact time as I am always checking the jelly stage by placing a bit in the freezer and looking at how it shifts off the stirring spoon. I pack this in hot jars and process for 10 minutes. 

Here is what I found out the other day. I was out of lemon so I did not add it. I had more foam and a sticky mess on the sides of the pan.  I remembered that you could add a Tbs. of butter to help with the foam. I tried that but it was still doing the same thing. On the second round I added the butter and 1 Tbs. of white vinegar. The acid of the vinegar worked to bring the foam down to a doable amount.
Also, I do not use the box pectin. You can if you like, it will save you some time and there are times that I have used it, but your results will be different.

A Sunday gone good

Sundays are one of those days where a person just needs a little family time.
I spent the morning chatting away with our daughter about "baby watch."
Mark has plans to pack a bag and be there as fast as he safely can get up the road.
All is well and they are counting down the days.
Excitement is in the air.

May is a big month for us.
Mark and I married in May.
Our son was born in May.
Joel and Katie married last May and now we are looking forward to a new May baby.

We went over and met Joel and Katie for lunch in Pittsboro where I received an early Mother's Day card and was trated to a nice lunch.
Our kids are only 18 months apart and Anna use to make sure she bought a card and got her brother to sign it.
She even did this when he was in the army.
Today I got a card from Joel- (thanks Katie!)
I have others from him and I think the last one I got from him was in crayon.
BUT!-----
I use to tell my kids what my mother told me, "Love me every day, not just one day of the year."
I did not understand this as a kid but as I raised mine I understood it very well.
Love and respect for one another goes a long ways.
My kids are the type of people I would have dinner and drinks with anyday.
Good people.
It was great to have a slice of family time- much needed! 

Then as we drove home my heart turned to May strawberries.
When May rolls in it is all I can think of, when to get them, how many to buy and how many jars of jam to make.
The one thing for certain is that store bought jam just does not compare to homemade.
They can put all kinds of things in the jam and yet all I add is sugar and lemon and cook the heck out of them  until they give it up and come to jam.
Round one is done and it is ready for the freezer.
I hope your Sunday was as jamming good as mine!