Plum Jam

This is our very favorite jam, just like my mom made years ago. The recipe is from the “1972 Ball Blue Book”, modified to current guidelines. In 1972, I didn’t water-bath this jam; I used paraffin to seal the jars. Water-bath processing is a much surer way to save this delicious jam. Check this link for the basics.  
I do have to buy plums in season; I haven’t found a good source of tart plums like we had when I was a kid. Red Santa Rosa plums are a good choice.  This recipe doesn't call for pectin, so it is a little cheaper to make.  
I often sit on our patio while I pit and cut up the plums.  I try to make 3 or 4 batches of this jam every summer - it goes fast.

Plum Jam
4 pounds Plums -- red tart ones
6 cups Sugar -- 2# 12 ounces
1 1/2 cups Water
1/4 cup Bottled Lemon Juice
Pit and slice plums into 6ths or 8ths, then cut in half. Measure 2 quarts full.  Place multiple shallow sauce dishes in freezer to use to check jellying.  Sterilize your jars in the water you're heating in your canner (about 8 half pints).
Combine all ingredients in open kettle; bring slowly to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly almost to jellying point, about 25 - 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking - about 215-216 °.   If  jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger in your cold dish it is ready.
Pour, boiling hot, into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims and adjust prepared lids.  Process 7-10 minutes in boiling water bath. Set on clean towels to cool.
Equipment: Open kettle, boiling water bath canner with rack, 2 quart measure, large metal spoon for skimming foam, instant read thermometer, large silicone scraper or spoon, jar lifter, lid wand, tongs for jars, funnel, ladle, ruler, pan with paper towels for filling jars, clean towels.
Cost August 2019: $4.99 or 63¢ per 8 ounce jar. (plums at 88¢ per pound and sugar at $3.99 per 10 pounds) - an 18 oz jar of the cheapest plum jam was $2.49 at Fareway, 18 ounces of this recipe equals $1.40. Commercial jam contains high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup. I usually buy cane sugar.
Do not double batches. Use the large open kettle to cook down rapidly and keep splashing to a minimum.  Read directions with your lids to prepare them.
Yield: "8 Half Pints"

Home Canned Cherry Pie Filling

Don and Bonnie have a really nice cherry tree that her mother planted on their homestead.  The cherries are perfect for jam, pie filling or just canned cherries.  Bonnie brought her beautiful, delicious pie to our family reunion this summer; and let me get a good photo before we cut into it. (Don finished making the pie, as Bonnie cut her hand - not a good idea there!, so it really is Don and Bonnie's pie in the photo.)

This recipe, from the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA”, makes really good pie filling, and is the one they used.  They have also made the same pie filling and have frozen it until it’s needed.  Don uses a cherry pitter like the one in the photo; beats any other method, trust me.
We can buy clear jel in our area at a couple of Amish groceries.

Cherry Pie Filling Quality: Select fresh, very ripe, and firm cherries. Unsweetened frozen cherries may be used. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while the fruit is still frozen. Procedure:  Rinse and pit fresh cherries, and hold in cold water. To prevent stem end browning, use ascorbic acid solution. For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar and Clear Jel® in a large saucepan and add water. If desired, add cinnamon, almond extract, and food coloring. Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained cherries immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately according to the recommendations below. Ingredients: 1 Quart 7 Quarts Fresh or thawed sour cherries 3-1/3 cups 6 quarts Granulated sugar 1 cup 7 cups Clear Jel® 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp 1-3/4 cups Cold water 1-1/3 cups 9-1/3 cups Bottled Lemon Juice 1 tbsp + 1 tsp 1/2 cup Cinnamon (optional) 1/8 tsp 1 tsp Almond extract (optional) 1/4 tsp 2 tsp Red food coloring (optional) 6 drops 1/4 tsp Process Time at Altitudes of Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 -3,000 ft 3,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft Hot Pints or Quarts 30 min 35 40 45 Cherry Pie Pie crust for 2 crust pie 1 quart Cherry Pie Filling 1 teaspoon milk 1 teaspoon sugar Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed for Two-Crust Pie, using 9-inch glass pie plate. Spoon pie filling into crust-lined plate. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Brush top crust with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits in several places on top crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. After 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Peach Jam for the Freezer

An alternative to water bathing canning homemade jams and jellies is to make Freezer jam and jellies. That is what I did with some nice peaches I had. We have had a lot of peach pie this year and I wanted to try this recipe instead.

 The recipe (directions) are from a Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I did cook it about double the time the recipe called for as I cooked it at a lower heat setting than called for. I did not want the jam to scorch and I hate to skim foam off of jams and jellies, hence the lower heat. 

 The only thing this will do is take longer to thicken. Test the jam on a cold plate that has been in the freezer. We like ours a little on the soft side so that is what I aimed for.

There is no commercial pectin in this recipe so it will take longer to jell anyway.

 For the taste of summer all winter long this is a good way to do it. It is for a small batch so you don’t have a lot to handle at once and unless you live in Peach Country this helps on the budget. Small household, just don’t eat as much as we did when I had teenagers at home.

Peach Jam

3 pounds of fruit*

3 ⅓ cups sugar

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (you can use fresh here as you are not canning it)

 Peel, (leave peeling on optional) chop into 1 inch pieces discarding pits.

Stir together fruit, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon coarse salt in a large heavy pot. Bring to a boil; stirring until sugar is dissolved and mashing fruit with a potato masher. Add lemon juice; continue to boil stirring frequently until bubbles slow, chunks of fruit show at top and mixture clings to a spoon. 14 to 28 minutes. Test a spoonful on a cold plate to see if it is setting.

 Ladle Jam into clean, hot containers leaving ¾ inch headroom. Allow to cool. When cool cover and store in refrigerator for one month or freezer for up to a year.

*Use 3 pound peaches

1 ½ pound peaches, 1½  pound plums

3 pounds of plums

or 1 pound each of berries of your choice to equal 3 pounds.

Home Canned Pineapple

If you find whole pineapple on sale and don’t want to use it right away, try canning it.

The recipe I used was from the Ball Blue Book. You can can it in a light syrup, or pineapple juice. I chose pineapple juice as I then have the option of using it for a recipe that is sweet or in a recipe calling for unsweetened pineapple like a stir fry. 

 The pineapples in the local stores were 99 cents for a whole pineapple and a small one yielded 4 half pints canned. I did buy 2 small cans of pineapple juice to add and canned the extra juice in another half pint. At 25 cents for a 8 ounce jar plus about 15 cents for the juice in each jar this makes it worth the time. Really your time is mostly in peeling and and coring the pineapple. The rest is very simple to do. I did not do slices as I did not have wide mouth jars, but I think that would be great to have on hand.

 Canned Pineapple

Scrub pineapple. Peel, remove “eyes” and core. Cut into ½ inch slices or lengthwise into wedges or 1 inch chunks. Make a light syrup or using juice, simmer pineapple in liquid of choice until tender. Pack hot pineapple into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Ladle hot liquid over pineapple leaving ½  inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process pints 15 minutes, quarts 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

Nutmeg Apple Conserve

This is an easy-to-make conserve.  Conserves have larger pieces of fruit and usually some dried fruit or nuts for interest.    The canning book recommended eating it on oatmeal, and we also liked it served with slices of ham or pork chops.  

My husband used our apple peeler-slicer without the slicing attachment to make quick work of peeling the apples.  Cut your apples into the water and lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.   Use purchased lemon juice so the acidity is controlled.   I used most of a 3# bag of Granny Smith apples.  This conserve jelled up nicely; apples have a lot of their own pectin.  
You do need to sterilize your canning jars because the processing time is less than 15 minutes.  That's easy to do right in your waterbath canner; removing them right before filling.  I use a long tongs with nylon tips for handling the hot, empty jars.  Check this link for good basic canning information.

Nutmeg Apple Conserve

  5            Cups  Tart Apples -- chopped, peeled

  1            Cup  Water

     1/3     Cup  Lemon Juice

  1 3/4     Ounces  Regular Powdered Pectin (1 package)

  4            Cups  Sugar

  1            Cup  Golden Raisins

     1/2     Teaspoon  Ground Nutmeg

1. Gather jars, lids and rings.  Fill water bath canner with enough water to cover jars by one inch or more. Add empty jars.   Bring to a boil, cover, and keep warm.  Prepare lids according to manufacturers instructions.
2. In a 6 to 8 quart heavy pot, combine apples, water and lemon juice.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in pectin.  Bring mixture to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and raisins.  Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in nutmeg.  Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
4. Ladle hot conserve into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe rims, adjust lids.
5. Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling).  Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks.

Equipment:  6-8 quart stockpot, waterbath canner or large covered stockpot with rack; jars, lids, rings, tray with paper towels or cloth for filling jars, jar funnel, lid magnet, jar lifter, cloth or paper towel for wiping rims, ladle, long spoon and long rubber scraper for cooking apple mixture, half sheet with a folded towel for cooling jars.  An apple peeler if desired.  (Here are some equipment suggestions)

  "Better Homes and Gardens Canning 2012"

  "6 Half Pint Jars"

Maraschino Cherries

  I do little or no canning, but couldn't resist making these Maraschino Cherries. The recipe is from SB Canning on the internet and they looked good.

  They are not as hard to make as the recipe appears, just need to set for 3 days and are canned on the fourth day.

  That said, I would not consider them Maraschino Cherries like I am used to buying at the store. However, they taste good. I am going to try them in a cake as soon as I feel they have set long enough. 

I hope you can see some of the cherries in the jars

Maraschino Cherries

Processing: Hot Water Bath

Yield: 6 half pints (6 cups)

Ingredients

4 ½ pounds fresh cherries

8 cups water

2 tablespoons kosher salt

8 cups white sugar

3 cups water

1 lemon, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons red food coloring

2 tablespoons almond extract

Day one

  Choose dark red, good quality cherries. Wash and remove stones, keeping them as intact as possible. (the hardest part of this recipe).

Dissolve the salt into the 8 cups of water over medium heat; pouring over cherries in a non-reactive container and allow to rest over night.

Day two

 Drain cherries and rinse gently to remove any brine. Whisk the 3 cups of water, sugar, fresh lemon juice and red food coloring until combined. Add cherries and stir gently.

Let stand till next day.

Day three

Drain cherries with a slotted spoon, reheat liquid over medium heat until almost boiling, then pour over the cherries. Allow to stand for one more day.

Day four

  Preheat the jars in boiling water. Prepare lids according to manufacturers instructions. Bring the syrup to a boil then turn the heat off, whisk in almond extract then add cherries back to the syrup. Using a slotted spoon fill hot jars with cherries to within 1 inch headspace. Ladle syrup into jars to within ½ inch headspace. Wipe rims and apply lids and rings to finger-tip tight. 

  Process in hot water bath canner for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove jars after 5 minutes to a tea towel to cool overnight. The next day remove bands, label and store in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months.

  You will have syrup left over. Quite a lot of syrup that I ended up throwing out, as I could not decide what to do with it.

Canning Pears

 My husband’s golf buddy offered him pears from their prolific tree to can…John looked at them, they were very small, but after tasting one he brought home several sacks of delicious little pears.  I canned them following the directions in the Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning Cook Book, and they are great. 

I used a melon baller to core the pears; they also must be peeled like a potato.  But we thought the work was worth the wonderful sweet flavor that you simply don’t get with commercially canned pears.

I didn’t do anything special to pack these small pears, but if you have nice, large ones - to make a fancy pack, place outside pears fat side down with a cherry in the core, then fat side up with cherry on outside of jars, fill center with plain halves, fill with hot syrup and process 5 minutes longer than plain pears (because they haven’t been warmed). 

If you are new to water-bath canning, check these hints:  Water bath equipment and Safe canning methods from the experts at Clemson..

                    Home Canned Pears in Light Syrup

  12  to 14 Pounds Pears (about 13 Cups Per Canner Load ) -- it requires more pounds of fruit for smaller sizes

  1                cup  Sugar

  2 1/3           cups  Water

  2        Tablespoons  Fruit Fresh -- see package directions

Prepare boiling water bath canner, jars and lids.

Peel, halve and core fruit, place in fruit fresh mixture until ready.  Use a stainless steel measuring spoon, 1/2 or 1 teaspoon size, to core fruit (or I used a melon baller successfully).  Fruit fresh requires 2 tbsp per 6 cups of water.

Measure at least 13 cups of fruit; fruit shrinks a lot.    Mix sugar and water for syrup in large open kettle, heat to boiling.

Drain pears.  In kettle of syrup, over medium-low heat, warm pears in syrup until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, pack hot pears, cavity side down and overlapping layers into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar.  Remove air bubbles; adjust ½” head space if necessary, by adding hot syrup.  Wipe rims of jar, seal with prepared lids and rings, place jars in water bath canner. 

Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20 minutes, keeping water level 1" -2" over jars for entire process.   If cold fancy-packed, process 25 minutes.

Remove jars, set on towels to cool and seal.  Remove rings, wash jars and store.  Pears can also be pressure canned at 5# pressure for 10 minutes.

Any leftover syrup can also be canned and used in jello salads or as you would use pineapple or apple juice.

  "7 Pint Jars"

Home Canned Cranberry Sauce

  
 Last year I purchased more fresh cranberries on sale than I could use, so I decided to try to can them.  My husband enjoys the whole berry sauce, and we used them to fill out a meal the rest of the winter.  I froze them right in the bags until I could find the time to can them.  Myrna suggested that I also keep some of the raw whole berries  in the freezer so I can use them in baking recipes any time of the year.  They are only available for a short time around the holidays.
I canned mine in half pints so the two of us could eat up a jar with no leftovers – I open several jars for company or recipes.  This year I'm planning to buy some extras when they are on sale and can them again right after the holidays, including any left from Christmas dinner.  This is one of the easiest recipes I have ever canned - no peeling or chopping - nothing tricky about it -  a good one to start learning with.
Cranberry Sauce

  36   ounces  Cranberries -- 3 bags

  3     cups  Water

  3     Tablespoons  Lemon Juice

  3     cups  Sugar

Hot Pack –Bring water, lemon juice, and sugar to a boil, add berries and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Skim foam if necessary.   Pour boiling hot sauce into clean, hot jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.  Process in a Boiling Water Canner for 15 minutes for half pints, pints or quarts.

Yield:  "10 Half Pint Jars or 5 Pint Jars"

Cost:  Nov. 2012:  48¢ per half pint jar or $4.76 per recipe.  (cranberries cost $1.29 on sale and sugar was 59¢ per pound.)

More information on water bath canning HERE and HERE.

Equipment Needed:  Water bath canner or large covered stock pot with rack, stockpot or jam pan, jars, lids and rings.  Jar lifter, lid wand, funnel, bubble knife, ladle, long spatula or spoon, shallow pan with towels for filling jars, 1/2 sheet pan with cloth towel for cooling jars.

Per half cup Serving: 142 Calories; trace Fat (0.6% calories from fat); trace Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 2mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Fruit; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Canning Apples for Pies

This recipe is from my sister-in-law, Bonnie. It turned out really good. I sliced my apples into apple cider, an idea from my friend Effie, whose family owns a plant nursery and apple orchard where they sell hundreds and hundreds of pies every year. They peel and prepare apples on Wednesdays, soak them in their own apple cider overnight, and then make pies for the freezer on Thursdays.

I used my new super duper apple slicer (they sell them at King Arthur Flour and Williams-Sonoma) that slices either 8 wedges or 16 slices for pie. It made the job much easier and really works (the plastic center makes the apples go all the way through the slicer).

Apple Pie Filling

6 1/2 -7 quarts Apples -- peeled and sliced

1 1/2 cups Clear Jel -- or cornstarch**

10 cups Water -- or half apple juice or cider

4 1/2 cups Sugar

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Salt

Bring ingredients except apples to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly like syrup. Turn drained apple slices into syrup and quickly pack into jars.  Add 3 tbsp bottled lemon juice to each jar.  Leave 1"-1 1/2" headspace; don't overfill or the filling will ooze out of your jars.

Process in a water bath 25 minutes for quarts or pints, add 5 minutes for 1000-3000 feet altitude.

7 quarts apple pie filling

**The original recipe called for 1 cup of cornstarch and water. I tried regular cook-type clear jel and half apple juice or cider and half water for the liquid.  I used Clemson's ratio of Clear Jel to liquid.

Try stayman, rome, golden delicious apples.

Cost Summer 2013: $6.72 or 96¢ per quart with purchased apples.

I had a little filling left over; I made some apple crisp and topped it with homemade ice cream.  After baking, and cooling just a little bit, the filling was a perfect consistancy and the apples were firm, not mushy.  Myrna tried a jar for apple crisp also, with good results.
Bonnie says her mother always canned apples, and then made juice for jelly from the peelings and cores.  Use it up,  do with less.

Canning Peaches

We love home-canned peaches. I buy several lugs of Elberta peaches when they come in at our local supermarket in late July or early August. These are “freestone” peaches; and are easy to pit. They have a flavor unlike the “cling” peaches that commercial canners usually use, much better in our opinion. Fully ripe peaches should slip their skins easily, if you are unsure that they are ripe, try one. If it doesn’t slip its skin quickly, let them ripen another day or two at room temperature. This recipe is for light syrup; heavy syrup will make “floating” peaches. This is also a hot pack; raw packs make poor-quality peaches according to Clemson University in South Carolina – home of peach experts.  You can use other preservatives besides Fruit Fresh, following directions on the package, but it is the most readily available around here.
Peaches cost me $14.99 a lug this year, $2 less than I paid last year.  I am canning peaches this week, they arrived at our grocery last week, but weren't quite ready to can.  I'm not a "blue-ribbon" canner, we just like to preserve the deliciousness of the season. 
Home Canned Peaches
1 lug Peaches, Elberta (size  60)
3 Tablespoons Fruit Fresh
3 Quarts cool water -- in dish pan with fruit fresh
16 each canning jars, pints with lids
2 1/2 Cups sugar
10 Cups Water -- for syrup
Heat water in a stock pot with a pasta insert if you have one; add peaches and heat for 1 minute, strain, drop into cold water in small dishpan, then peel and halve. Hold in a mixture of 3 quarts cool water with 5 Tbsp Fruit Fresh in large, clean dishpan. Repeat until all are ready. Make sure all the pieces are covered well with Fruit Fresh, plunging the newest ones down into mixture. (If you plan to can pints and have one canner, you may want to stop with ½ of the lug, can them, and then get the rest ready).  Don't fill jars until you are ready to put them in the canner immediately.
Heat water in a boiling water bath canner. Heat the sugar and water for syrup in a stock pot or jelly pan. Add enough peaches for a canner load (about 7-8 halves per pint) and heat 5 minutes in syrup. Prepare lids according to manufacturers instructions.
In hot, clean jars, pack fruit, pit side down, (use a teaspoon stuck into the pit side to place them in the jar quickly and easily), cover with syrup with 1/2 inch headspace; remove bubbles; wipe off rim; cap and place in canner. Process for 20 minutes for pints or 25 minutes for quarts at 1000’ altitude in a boiling water bath canner. Cool on a folded towel (I put the towel on a half-sheet pan so I can move it).

A size 60 lug holds 60 peaches or 2 canner loads of pints. (There are 40 peaches in a size 40 lug – about 2 ½ peaches per jar.  I usually slice the large peaches so I can get them in the jar). A lug will make about 8+ quarts or 16-17 pints.

August 2009 Cost: $18.40 or $ 1.06 per pint jar.  Cost in 2010:  $16.49 or $.95 per pint jar.

Yield: "15-16 Pint Jars"

Check Home Canning Information for additional help.

My Husband and I canned 52 pints of peaches from the 3 lugs pictured.  We ran 2 water-bath canners (I use 20 Qt. Stainless stockpots with racks in them).  The peaches were perfect, and we didn't waste one.