Peach Freezer Jam

We are smack dab in the middle of harvest time! Most years, I stick with raspberry and strawberry freezer jam. But this year, I got a hankering for peach jam. This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make it. I have lots of photos...

I bought 8 large peaches for 2 batches of jam. You need 3 cups of prepared fruit for each batch. Wash 14 cups-worth of jars, 8, 12 or 16 ounces each. The recipe says it makes 6 cups of jam, but I got 7 out of each batch. Assemble all the equipment you will need before you start.

For peeling the peaches, put a large pot of water on to boil. I found this "steamer" pot at an estate sale this past month, but any large pot works just fine. Run a sink full of cold water. Immerse 3-4 peaches at a time, into the boiling water for 3 minutes. Working quickly, remove the peaches from the boiling water and drop into the cold water. (They can stay there until you peel them.)

When all your peaches are in the cold water, dump out the how water--you will not longer need it. The peaches in the cold water will peel amazingly well.

I find that the best peaches for canning and jam making are the ones oftentimes referred to as "clings". "Freestone" peaches are much easier to break away from the pit, but not nearly as juicy and sweet. I tried a few pieces of these and they were almost like candy!

To peel a peach, slide the tip of a small knife between the skin and the flesh. You will see that it comes away easily and the skin can be removed, with the help of your knife, without leaving any on the peach.

(BTW: This technique is the same for canning peaches and tomatoes.)

Slice the fruit from the pit and then roughly chop each slice into chunks. I found that 3 1/2 peaches made about 3 cups of fruit.

With a potato or burger masher, smash the chunks of peach as finely as you like (I like a few chunks in my jam).

If you want your peach (and apricot) jam to stay nice and summer-colored, and not brown as it ages, add 1/2 tsp of Fruit Fresh for each cup of mashed fruit (a trick my Mama taught me!). Also, to ensure that the jam jells properly, I find that the juice of a whole lime - not lemon, and not the

prepared juice in a squeeze bottle! - works best to insure a nice thickness and jell to your jams. Peaches and apricots do not have sufficient acid or pectin in them to jell up without this additional help. My Nana made amazing freezer jam, but without this particular bit of knowledge, her peach and apricot jams were always very runny --but so good, we never complained!

Now, under most circumstances, I would tell you to find the recipe for this and other jams and jellies in the Sure Jell box. However, I just discovered yesterday, that the company has decided to go modern and tell people to find the recipe on-line. I am not old fashioned (I don't think), but that really pissed me off! The last thing a cook wants to do is stop everything and pull out their computer just to refer to the

recipe-- at least that is how this cook feels!

I do not know if MCP pectin still puts the reference and recipe sheet in their boxes. But I am fortunate to have kept some from previous years..so we are all benefiting from that today!

Put 4 1/2 cups of sugar into a big bowl. Dump the mashed peaches into the bowl and mix well. I did both batches at the same time, essentially, so do the second batch in another bowl. You will find that the mixture is very sugary and grainy.

The recipe says to let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve. I find it best to let it sit at least an hour. Stir the mixture often. This makes such a difference in your jam!

Of all the things I did not photograph, it was this next step:

In a small sauce pan, mix one package of Sure Jell with 3/4 cup of water. It may start out lumpy, but as you heat it up, it will smooth out. Bring it to a boil and boil exactly 1 minute. Immediately pour into the peaches and stir for EXACTLY 3 minutes....this is very tiring! But worth it.

Using a funnel, pour into clean jars. Leave about 1/2 inch of headspace to allow for expansion during freezing. Top with used lids (I save all mine from the previous year--except the ones on the salsa, as they smell like..well..salsa). You do not

particularly need new lids. I recycle everything I can. You can see here all the different dates and labels. I will use a Magic Eraser and they come clean--then write the new info on the lid! Voila!

Let your jam sit out on the counter for 24 hours and then put in the freezer.

You have successfully made a lovely batch of summer in a jar, to enjoy with your toast on cold winter mornings!

A Strawberry Scarf

My granddaughter, Elly, loves strawberries! She collects vintage strawberry porcelain pieces, Strawberry Shortcake themed things, strawberry fabric....essentially all things strawberry.

A few months ago, on eBay, I found a dozen of these lovely little velvet strawberries, about 2" long and 1.5" wide, with little beads sewn on them and topped with green felt "leaves" and "stems". I spent some time trying to come up with something I could make her using them.

At an estate sale, I had purchased a bunch of wonderful wool yarns and one of the skeins was nearly the same color as the berries. So I knitted this snuggly scarf, long enough to wrap around her neck a couple of times. I added a yarn fringe at the ends and sewed on the velvet strawberries.

I was unsure whether she would like it -- who knows what a 19-year-old will like to wear?

But she loved it! Whew!

On Nurses

This post came up on my Facebook feed at a most appropriate time. My husband, Larry, had been in the hospital for nearly a week. This was by no means the first time (or even tenth time, for that matter!) that he had been in the hospital for a post-surgical stay, or post-pneumonia stay, etc...and so it made me want to give a shout out to all our nurses. Between Larry and I, we have five nurses in our immediate family. They are amazing people.

In my personal opinion, nurses just do not get the credit they deserve -- in so very many ways. They have this amazing vault of untapped knowledge; they oftentimes put the needs of your sick family member in front of their sick family member; during their shifts at the hospital or clinic, they seldom eat a meal at a single sitting; they are compelled to maintain what they have learned over their years of working, and to add new knowledge and new skills -- Every. Single. Year. And we expect them to do all this and more, and still be there with a smile on their face when we push a little red button.

While Larry was in the hospital, one nurse asked me if I would like a cup of coffee, every morning that he was on shift. Another helped Larry with a shower twice - which meant he had to protect 9 different incisions with waterproof covers and remove 5 different IV hook-ups and monitors. A nurse brought him pain meds when he asked for them. A nurse checked in before leaving at the end of their shift. A brilliant and amazingly efficient team of nurses stabilized him when we came into the ER at 6am. A nurse pushed him to the curb upon checkout. These people, probably "just doing their job" to themselves, were Heroes to us!

And we are so very, very appreciative of everything they, and any other nurse we have encountered over the past 22 years, have done for us!