Salted Brown Sugar Peach Jam

Millions of peaches, peaches for me....

I love me some peaches! They are in season right now and I can't get enough of them! I love them in oatmeal, on ice cream, on yogurt; Peaches literally taste like summer.

This recipe is another favorite from "Preserving by the Pint," by Marisa McClellan.


Makes 3-4 half pint jars

Ingredients:

2 pounds ripe peaches
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon finely milled sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Bring a canning pit to a boil and sterilize jars for 15 minutes. Place the lids and rings in a small sauce pot and bring to a simmer.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a large bowl, fill with ice water. Once water is boiling, place peaches in the boiling water and blanch the peaches for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to the ice water. Once peaches are cool to the touch, remove the skins and cut in half and remove the pits.

3. Place peaches in a large bowl and smash with a potato masher until its a chunky pulp. Stir in the sugar and let the fruit sit for a few minutes, until the sugar is mostly dissolved.

4. Place the peaches and sugar in a pot and add the lemon juice, salt and nutmeg and cook medium-high heat. Stirring frequently, bring the fruit to a boil and cook until it looks thick, about 10-12 minutes. It's done when you pull a spatula through and the jam doesn't immediately rush in to fill the space.

5. Lade the hot jam into the hot sterilized jars and leave 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Fill a large boil with ice water.

Blanch the peaches for 1-2 minutes.

Place the peaches in the ice bath. Once cool, remove the skins, cut in half and remove pits. 

Place the peaches in a large bowl.

Mash the peaches with a potato masher.

Get one cup of packed brown sugar.

Add sugar to peaches and stir til disolved.

Add peaches and sugar to a large pot. Add lemon juice, salt and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Cook till the jam is thick and ladle into canning jars and wipe rims and add lids and rings.

Process jam for 10 minutes and let cool on a folded towel for 18-24 hours.

Blueberry Jam with Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Blueberries are everywhere right now in Washington and my local fruit stand has amazing local blueberries. I bought two large baskets and got my pot of canning water boiling. I love adding this jam in my morning oatmeal with a handful of walnuts. Having a large selection of jams, makes eating oatmeal everyday different and fun. I got this recipe from "Food in Jars," from Marisa McClellan. 

Makes about 3 (1 Pint) jars

Ingredients:

6 cups smashed blueberries

4 cups organic sugar

Zest and juice from 1 lemon

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 teaspoons Pomona's Pectin

3 teaspoons calcium water

1. Prepare water bath, by bring a large pot to a boil. Place jars in pot and once boiling, set timer for 15 minutes to sterilize. 

2. Combine the pectin and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Place blueberries in a large pot and add the calcium water and mix well. Then add sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat and add the lemon zest and juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the jam is shiny and thick looking. 

3. Place lids and rings in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. 

4. Remove the jam from the heat and ladle into hot jars. Wipe the rims clean and place a lid and ring on each jar and tighten to finger tight. Place jars back in water pot in a canning rack and process for 10 minutes. 

Wash those blueberries and mash them with a potato masher.

Add pectin to sugar and mix well.

Looking good!

Place blueberries, sugar and calcium water in a large pot. Once boiling add lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Boil for about 15-20 minutes till nice and thick. Stir often.

Ladle into hot jars, wipe rims and add lids and rings.

Place jars into the boiling water and process for 10 minutes. Make sure that 1-2 inches of water cover the jars.

Apricot-Vanilla Bean Jam

My husband and I have planted an apricot tree this summer and I can't wait for it to produce all kinds of yummy apricots for me to can and make pies out of in the years to come. In the mean time, my favorite produce stand sells apricots for about $0.99 a pound, so I've been making all kinds of yummy things out of them.

I've made this jam multiple times this season so far and it's super simple to make. This is another goodie from "Canning for a New Generation." I buy my vanilla beans in the bulk spice section and there are half the price as the ones in the jars. You can also buy them online, but I like to look at my beans before I purchase them.


Makes about 4-5 1/2 pint jars

Ingredients:

3 pounds of ripe apricots, washed, pitted and cut into slices
1 cup organic sugar
2 vanilla beans sliced lengthways to open pod
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)

1. Wash and clean mason jars. Start to boil water in a canning pot. Place the jars in the pot using a canning rack. Make sure that the water covers the jars about 1-2 inches. Once the water is boiling, boil the jars for 15 minutes to sterilize. You don't want to skip this step or else you might get some fuzzy-icky jam.

2. In a large pot, add the apricots, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat till the juices from the apricots covers the fruit. Strain the apricots into a colander and carefully stir the apricots to release the juice. Return the juice to the pot and stir till the syrup is reduced by about half. Keep your eye on it or else it might burn!

3. Return the apricots and vanilla beans to the pot and cook for about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Remove the vanilla beans and cut into small 2 inch pieces.

4. Remove the jars and carefully empty the boiling water back into the canning pot. Place the jars on a folded towel. Take the lids and place in a small bowl and pour some of the boiling canning water into the bowl. Place a small piece of the vanilla bean in each jar. Using a funnel, ladle the hot jam into the jars. Leave 1/4 headspace from the top. Wipe the rims clean with a damp paper towel. Place a lid from the hot water on to the top of the jars. Screw on a ring till finger tight. Repeat with remaining jars.

5. Place the filled jars into the canning rack and return to the boiling water. Process for 5 minutes and then remove jars to a folded towel. In an hour, check to see that the lids have pushed down. If any jars haven't (meaning they make a clicking sound) place in fridge and use immediately. Store the jars in a cool, dark place.

Wash them yummy apricots!

Pit and slice

Slice open two vanilla beans

Place apricots, vanilla, sugar and lemon juice into a large pot.

Cook over medium heat till the juices just cover the fruit.

Strain out the juices. 

Return the juice to the pot and cook till reduced by half.

Meanwhile, make sure those jars are boiling for 15 minutes.

Syrup has reduced by half.

Return the apricots and vanilla beans to the syrup and cook for about another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle the jam into each jar with the vanilla beans.

Make sure there is 1/4 inch headspace and wipe the rims clean.

Using a magnetic wand, place the hot lid on top of each jar.

Screw the rings on finger tight.

Place the jars in the canning rack.

Place in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Make sure that the water covers the jars about 1-2 inches.

Place the jars on a folded towel and let sit for 12-18 hours. Then store in a cool, dark place.

Canning, Canning and More Canning

Molly picking berries!

So these past two weekends have been full of strawberry picking and canning. Strawberry season came a little early this year in Washington, so we've been taking full advantage of it! There is a u-pick place in Arlington, WA, at Biringer Farms. Super fun place and family friendly. It's only $2.25 a pound, which is a great price considering these strawberries are about $10 for half a flat at the local grocery store. These strawberries are super sweet and ripe, so you have to eat them or can them within 24-48 hours after picking.

My sister and canning-partner-in-crime and I have been cleaning out all of our local Goodwills for canning jars. We love thrift store shopping and buying items that are unique and fun. Its also a smaller footprint on the environment to buy used and cheaper! Only $0.20 a jar and it doesn't matter what size. We plan on doing a lot of pickling, so we're going to need loads of large jars.

 Also, my husband and I have been super busy in the garden and so far we've planted a bing cherry, rainier cherry, puget apricot, fuji apple, and gala apple trees! We're super excited to have a bunch of fun fruit trees and we've also planted a few blueberry bushes. Next year we should have a ton of fresh fruit!

We've canned loads of strawberry jam, strawberry lavender jam and strawberry orange compote. Over 50 jars! We can't wait to can more jams and jellies.