Cherry Mango Jam

Sweet Cherry Mango Jam.Well here is recipe number 2 on our 2016 Washington State Fruit Commission Cherry Jam.

Last year I was able to make a few more variety. This year I seemed to have a few less than last year. Let me tell you it had nothing at all to do with the fact that the cherries were delicious!

Thank you Sweet Preservation





Ingredients

8 cups cherries - pitted and split in half
4 cups mango - peeled and chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups sugar

Begin by cleaning your cherries and pitting them. Next step is to cut your cherries in half. Once they have been cut put all the cherries into your pot to cook. You will need to peel and chop the mango's also then add them to the cherries in the pot.








Turn on the burner to medium and add the lemon juice while stirring until it is mixed. Now start to smush your fruit. This is time consuming just smash your fruit to the consistency that will make you happy. I like to taste pieces of fruit in my jams.

I use a potato smasher to get my fruit smashed.

I had chopped my mango's so they were the right size the m ashing helped get the flavor of the mango throughout the jam. Cherries were the many flavor I was after with the tingle of mango's.

Once you have the right consistency and the gel point get your jar's ready and get that yummy jam into the jars.

Fill your jar's 1/4 inch from the rim of the jars. Wipe them clean around the rims and cap them.

Give your jam a 12 minute water bath. Remove the jars and let them cool for 24 hours. Take off the twist top and clean the jars. Label and store in a cool area for up to one year.

Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes. 

Blackberry-Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Blackberry Jam with Meyer Lemons and Sweet Little Clementine Oranges this is such a delightful combination. I love the bitter tang of fresh blackberries and with the combo of citrus this is one sweet and tart jam. I love making jams jellies not so much. I think that you need the texture of the fruit to enjoy the taste.

Ingredients

4 Meyer lemons w/ 2 Clementines or juicy oranges =  2 cups pulp
1 Meyer lemon w/ 1 Clementine orange thinly sliced
3/4 cup of water
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups blackberries
4 cups of white sugar




This will yield you 8 to 10  8 oz. jars of jam. It is a good idea to have all your ingredients cut and measured out prior to starting. This makes the jam making process so much easier.

Wash and clean all your fruit prior to starting. Cut the clementines and lemon into thin slices and quarter the slices. You will use these in your jam after they have cooked them for a while.






Place your slices, water, lemon juice into the pot you will use to cook the jam.  Bring to a soft boil add the baking soda and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes this will soften the peel for your jam.

If you want to learn how to cut and section your citrus go here. It is so easy to do once you get the hang of it. Chop the remaining lemon and clementines into quarter's. Please do not be to picky the bit of rind and pith you may miss will add to the flavor and texture. Marmalade = tangy






Now in the original pot you have your slices simmering, add your blackberries and citrus.  Keep this at a soft boil and let the blackberries break down. I use a potato smasher to get the consistency I like in my jam.









My jams are thick and when you spread them on to a piece of toast there is always a nice combo of jam to fruit. In my humble opinion there is nothing more delightful then a nice chunk of fruit to bite into when eating warm buttered toast.




Bring your mixture to a rapid boil one you cannot stir down.  Now add the sugar and bring it back up to a boil yes that can not be stirred down. You will have a small amount of foam on the top. This you will skim off prior to filing the jars. Bring your jam up to a temperature of 223 degrees. This is a sure gel temperature for any jam. Do the gel test.

 Turn off the heat and get your jar's ready to fill. Skim the foam off the top. Fill the jars to 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe the rims clean and cap them putting the screw band taunt onto the top. Give the jar's a 10 minute water bath. Once done remove and let them cool completely. Once cooled remove the bands, wipe clean and store in a cool dry spot. Label and date.




Once cooled the fruit should be evenly distributed mine you see is a little citrus heavy as I wanted. I added a bit more citrus then the recipe called out for. Lemon head I am.

Always be safe and follow the rule



Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes.   

Apricot Bluberry Jam

You all know it is time for Fair and I am on a mission. Through out the years I have entered the Fair and done pretty darn good. Last year I won 16 ribbons. BUT this year I want a God Damn Best of Show.

Try as I might I can not bribe the judges make nice is the best I can do when dropping off my goods. Last year I made nice and happened to meet two wonderful women.



Well you know the Apricot story I always seem to find the best places to pick them. My last Mother Load made a batch of Apricot Butter and it was my first time making that . I thought it was a bit runny but sometimes when I let my jams sit they thicken up all by themselves.

Ingredients

2 quarts of uncooked chopped apricots no I do not peel my fruit but you can
2 cups fresh blueberries

1/4 cup of lemon juice
5 cups of sugar




Preparation:



Combine your apricots, blueberries and lemon juice in your sauce pot. Bring slowly to a simmer. Now add your sugar and stir until you have dissolved all the sugar. Bring to a rapid boil.







 We do not add pectin to our jam's because we like to keep the jam as close to nature as possible. I have post on How to make your own Pectin and reasons why we do not use it. Once you have the rapid boil and the foamy stuff going on. Keep it at the boil until you get to your gel point. Without pectin it needs to get to about 223 degrees with a thermometer.

Now remove your jam mixture from the heat. Ladle into your clean, hot, sanitized jars leaving your 1/4" head space. Wipe the rim of the jars, Adjust your two piece cap and process in the water bath for 15 minutes.

Once removed let them cool overnight or all day for you night canner's. Take the twist top off once cooled and wipe the rims and store with out the twist. Also please do label and date the jam. Here is another Post on this great jam from Renee go looky see!

Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes.

Persimmon Butter

My brother Pace brought me a large bag of Fuyu Persimmon. What a treat and I have never made persimmon jam before so this makes it a great day!

I did search the Internet for persimmon recipe and I was a little disappointed. But I did find a recipe for a Persimmon Butter which I liked and took a bit of that one to make this incredible persimmon butter.

I also referred back to my grama's apple butter recipe and tweaked a bit.

Let us get started

Ingredients

30 Fuyu Persimmons
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice this is 2 lemons
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

Quartered fruit

Clean and prepare you persimmons. I wash them cut off all the bruises and funny looking spots. Quarter them and put them into a large stock pot (stainless steel) and let them cook on low heat for about an hour to an hour and a half.

Mush for the mill

Once they are cooked down I run them through a food mill.

Whipped and liquid

Once I get as much of the juice out I take the pulp that is left and put it into my food processor and grind it into a fine pulp. Now I know it sounds silly to run it through the food mill then into the food processor. You can skip this food mill part and put it directly into a food processor but I am a real tickler when it comes to clean jam's and butter's. Weird but go with me on this one.

Added sugars

Ok all that is left is to add your sugars, lemon and spices and let it simmer till it is a deep beautiful color and to the thickness you want it. I have found with most butters the more you cook it down the thicker it will get. And remember that when it is in the refrigerator it gets a thicker consistency when it is cold.

bubbly deliciousness

This is beautiful !

tada

Strawberry Blueberry Jam

Blueberry Preserves I just love them. Jams are so thick and full of flavor. Preserving Strawberry Blueberry Jam is a pretty simple recipe. I have been creating different jams for years but I just realize there is no post for this one.

When blueberries and strawberries are in season out here I buy as much as possible and freeze them to make jam year round.

Look how fat these babies are!

 

 

 

Ingredients 

5 cups strawberries
3 cups blueberries
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 box powder pectin
4 cups sugar




Once your fruit is measured put the fruit and the lemon juice into a large stainless steel pot and bring to a rapid boil. Please stir it so it does not burn.






You can break up the fruit with a potato smasher or an immersion blender. Either works. I love both methods and use both. 






 
Mix pectin with half cup of your sugar I find when it is mixed it incorporates better. Once your fruit is at a rolling boil add your pectin mixture and bring back to a boil.

Add the sugar into the fruit mixture and cook over high heat continuing your boil , stirring constantly. Continue until your have reached the gel point. You can see by my pictures that I love jam that is fruit friendly. I do believe true jam people do so love to have a big piece of fruit on their toast or piled on top of a bowl of ice cream. Wait or in a cookie it is endless what you can do with your jams.






Remove from heat. Skim and stir to remove foam.  Ladle jam into hot jars leave 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rims and seal.Give them a 15 minute bath.

It gelled so beautifully

Today was busy I canned the Fermented Sauerkraut in the jars. And started some Hot Sauce another fermenting adventure.

 Always be safe and be clean!






Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes. 

Grandma's Apple Butter

Ok when I started to can I only wanted to do it for the Apple Butter Jam. The memories I have of my Grandma Lois and her canning extravaganza's are glorious memories.


Yet in the last few years I never made it. Well today that is over. I woke up saw my husbands big giant apples in the frig and said this is the day. I called my dad to get his Mom's recipe I can still taste it.




I also got some tips from friends checked the Internet out and there are as many recipes as there are apples. So I stuck with Grama Lois original and got to jammin'. All I wanted was to taste my Grama Lois's Apple Butter . Time will tell.

You know I tweak so many recipes. Not this one

Grama Lois Apple Butter 

4 lbs. of apples I did use Granny Smith and a variety of some I picked locally
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
3 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of molasses
Grate half of a nutmeg nut...sounds funny but fresh is good it comes to about ne teaspoon of nutmeg. If you use dry use 1/2 teaspoon
1 tablespoon of cinnamon.
6 whole all spice balls
Grated rind 1 small lemon and the juice of one whole lemon
Ok I use the whole apple skin-seeds-all of it.

Why you ask because the pectin is in the skins, seeds and stuff and it will dissipate. And Think Food Mill my friends!
Also I love nutmeg it gives everything that holiday smell and taste it is a personal choice for you to add or not. And also add four whole cinnamon sticks when the process is smashed and the simmer begins. 

Cut the apples into quarters put them in a pot add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 2 cups of water.

Let this cook on low for well I did mine so far for 2 hours stirring it every 20 minutes or so to keep it circulating and to shift the apples location in the pot.

After the first hour I added 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon and all spice I also added grated fresh nutmeg about 1 teaspoon. Yes those are whole cinnamon sticks.

I added the spices while it is cooking to infuse the flavor in the first stage. The cloves are whole and in a spice bag to remove when I run it threw the mill. 

Alright you have cooked the apples, run them thru a food mill. Once it has been run thru the mill return the ingredients to the pot.  Now we are going to add the remaining ingredients.

• Alright add 3 cups of brown sugar
• 1 cup of granulated sugar 
• 1/4 cup of molasses

I will know run it thru the food mill one more time to make it smooth as can be.





 For the last few hours of cooking I put it into a crock pot on low

 for at least 4 to 5 hours. Stir it ever hour or so and taste to

 make sure there is nothing you may want to add.












I will usually get my jars ready in the water bath and do work on the computer when I'm doing this project. Once it has the consistency and taste you are ready to get them ready for their bath.

I left some of the Apple Butter in a small pot to show you the difference prior to adding the additional ingredients. See how much deeper the color is with the additional ingredients.

 Time to jar up for Bath Time!

 Have your warm jars ready and fill them until they are about 

 1/2" from the rim of the jar. Wipe the rims clean and cap taunt.

 Water bath them for 12 minutes. Once done remove from the

 bath and let them cool over night or for at least 8 hours.

Once cooled remove the twist portion of the top. Make sure they have sealed wash the jars. Label with content and date and store up opened for up to one year. Once opened refrigerate ! Yummm



Disclaimer: This is not an all inclusive recipe for making jam. You should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the canning process before proceeding. Please consult your local Center for Home Preservation for additional information and available classes.