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Friday, August 28, 2009

♫ we're jammin' ♫

and i hope you like jammin' too...
=)
this is missy, my bestest friend since middle school. we make an excellent jammin'/canning duo. (well, when wendi is there guiding us). first we cut slits on top of the peaches, boiled them for about a minute, then put them in a cold water bath so we could easily peel the skin.


missy was a very motivated chopper. she got the peaches nice and small for a smooth batch of jam. i was a bit more impatient so my batch was on the chunkier side.
we followed the packet directions and added a pack of pectin, FIVE AND A HALF CUPS of sugar!, and 2 tbsp lemon juice to 4 cups of peaches. (i am researching to see if less sugar can be used or if agave nectar can be substituted when canning.) we had to stir the mixture constantly as it boiled rapidly for 10 minutes. we filled the jars, wiped the tops clean, added the lids and rings, and put them in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes to kill the germies and to get the jars to seal. (forgot to take pictures of those steps.)

you can learn more from Wendi, our awesome expert canning instructor, on her blog at
http://storageskills.blogspot.com/.
also visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation for more info.

and here is the finished product

and for your listening/viewing pleasure

8 comments:

  1. Mmmmm, you are going to LOVE it! I'm having toasted oatmeal bread with home made peach jam for breakfast right now! Then I'm going to the garden to pick strawberries, 'cause I think there are enough for a batch of strawberry jam today.

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  2. That looks SO COOL! I saw a post a LONG time ago about jarring on vegan yum yum's blog and have been intrigued ever since! You guys made it look easy! Oh, and the 5 cups of sugar.... that's is going to be GOOD! LOL!
    -A

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  3. granny - just tried it and i do! yum, fresh strawberry jam sounds even better!

    A - it was only easy because the wonderful wendy (our instructor) was telling us what to do. if it were just the two of us i'm pretty sure we would have blown up some jars and/or started a small fire. =)

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  4. Looks great. I just made a batch of peach jam recently as well! If you add a tsp or so of margarine to the jam before boiling it reduce the foaming.

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  5. wow, i had no idea jam had so much sugar in it! looks good, though. :)

    thanks for stopping by my blog. i love "meeting" new people. you've inspired me to try more non-meat meals!

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  6. dan - thanks. wow, you do it all! our instructor friend had us make one batch with and one without butter to compare. i'm torn because we scraped the foam from the batch without, let it cool, then ate it globbed on homemade rolls. however, i think the batch with butter looks a bit prettier in the jar. it's quite the conundrum. :P

    marisa - thank you for stopping here! wow, really? that made my day!

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  7. Kelli--you did such a nice job documenting your canning experience. I'm so glad you had a nice time. We've got to do the pepper jelly before life gets too hectic again. Glad you had a great time.

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  8. thanks wendi. let's do the pepper jelly SOON! missy and i finished the rest yesterday - MMMMMM! oh, i found out that i grow hungarian wax peppers, not jalapenos.

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