To make it, you need ripe pears (fresh off the tree is best!), pectin, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla.

Begin by washing the pears.  Be sure to pause a moment and appreciate their beauty and aroma!

Peel, core and finely chop pears until you have 4 cups of chopped pears.

Add 1/3 cup of lemon juice to the pears

and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

Stir it up!  Looks yummy, doesn’t it?

Put this in a large pot with 7 1/2 cups sugar.

Stir it up, and begin heating it on your stove.
I like to add a teaspoon of butter to my jam to reduce foaming.

Bring the jam to a rolling boil, and then pour in 1 packet of pectin (I use the Ball liquid 3 ounce pectin)

Return to a rolling boil, and then cook 1 more minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Skim the foam, and ladle into sterilized jars.

Fill jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp cloth.  Place lids and bands on jars and process in a hot water bath 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Hopeful Homemaker’s Cinnamon Pear Jam

4 cups peeled, chopped pears
7 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 packet pectin (I use Ball liquid pectin.  Each pouch is 3 ounces)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. butter (optional, to reduce foaming)

Peel, core and chop pears.  Add lemon juice and cinnamon.  Place in large pot and add sugar.  Stir together, add 1 teaspoon butter if desired,  and bring to a rolling boil.  Add pectin.  Return to rolling boil and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla.  Skim foam off jam.  Ladle into sterilized jars.  Place lid and band on jar and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.  This recipe yields 6-7 half pint jars of jam.

Fresh peaches!  Gotta love ‘em!  Not only do I love fresh fruit in the late summer and early fall, but I also love preserving some of it to be enjoyed throughout the year.

Today’s project is homemade peach jam.  Yum.

First, measure 7 1/2 cups sugar.  Yep, that’s a lot of sugar!

Start chopping those lovely peaches until you have 4 cups of chopped fruit.

Pour the sugar into a large saucepan.

Add the peaches.

Add 1/3 cup lemon juice.

Finally, add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Stir well over medium-high heat.

Bring to a rolling boil that can’t be stirred down, and add two 3 ounce packets of liquid pectin.

Return to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat.  If desired, stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Ladle into sterilized canning jars.

Fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space at the top.  Wipe the lip of the jars with a damp, clean towel and put on a lid and band.  Process in hot water bath to seal.

Let stand for 24 hours in order for jam to set and lids to seal.

Aren’t they beautiful!  This recipe makes 4 pint sized or 8 half-pint jars of jam.
I have two batches in my basket.  I love the feeling of abundance that comes when I’m canning.

I must say I’m in love with the glow of this jam.  It’s so beautiful!

In the morning sunlight, it’s like amber.  And it tastes delicious.

Cinnamon Peach Jam

7 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups chopped peaches
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 pouches, 3 ounces each, Ball Liquid Fruit Pectin
1 tsp. vanilla extract, optional

Combine sugar, peaches, lemon juice and cinnamon.  Cook over medium high heat until reaches a rolling boil.  Add pectin.  Return to boil and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir.  Ladle into sterilized jars and process in hot water bath according to instructions.   Let set and store.  Enjoy!

We came home from vacation and our yummy cherries had turned into deep red,
dripping with sweetness, dribble juice all over you cherries.

Beautiful cherries.

We started picking.  Filling buckets and trays.

But it didn’t even look like we’d picked.

I’ve always enjoyed preserving fruit, making jams and sauces,
dehydrating and bottling.  But it’s never come from my own backyard.
I’m fortunate to live in an area where there are multiple orchards around me
and I can buy from the growers.  This time, to be harvesting from our own trees
is really a pleasure.

I’ve been bottling cherries and making jam.
I’ve never had cherry jam before, but we’ve learned that it’s really tasty.
Freezer jam and cooked jam both.

It’s a lot of work, but for me it’s work that brings a real feeling of satisfaction.
So much of what I do has to be redone several times a day.  But I love the feeling of lining up
the food I’ve preserved and knowing that because of my efforts my family will enjoy it in
months to come when the fresh food is no longer available.  And we’ve only harvested from one tree!
I still have another to take care of this week.

I also find that working with fruit helps me slow down, relax, and notice more of the
simple joys of life.  I start looking at the lovely shades of color in the fruit, pondering life
in a day and time when work such as this meant survival.   Today I noticed the lovely color of the foam as I cooked some cherry jam.

And how beautiful it was when it reached a full boil.

I feel more grateful for the bounty that God has given us, marveling at the genius of a God who created trees that can bring us such delicious pleasure, and such blessings.  I am reminded that God’s economy is one of abundance.

Taking advantage of such abundance, expressing my appreciation for it by putting it to good use and sharing it with others, just feels right.  And that’s an awfully good feeling to carry around in your heart.

Jennifer

I love strawberries.  (Who doesn’t?)
Time to make some strawberry freezer jam.
My family loves this stuff.  Last year I made enough freezer jam that we’ve had homemade jam to eat all year long.  It’s been great, and I have every intention of doing it again this year.

I’m making my jam today using the basic recipe that comes in the pectin box.
Last year I discovered liquid fruit pectin.
I’ll never go back.
Today I’m using Ball liquid fruit pectin, which comes in a box with two pouches.

Here is our cast of ingredients:

Pretty simple: pectin, lemon juice, sugar and strawberries.
And the other fabulous thing I discovered last year:

These fabulous new freezer jam containers.  I’ve saved them through the year as we’ve eaten jam,
and now they’re washed and ready for another round.
These, too, are made by Ball and can be found at many supermarkets or stores like WalMart.

So, here we go.  First, wash your fruit.

Now, on this next step I will freely acknowledge that the proud recipe developers at Ball, not to mention my great-grandmother, would probably be ashamed of what I’m about to do.
But I’m trying it anyway, because I have dinner to make and soccer practices to get to.
I cut off the tops and plopped the strawberries in my blender.

Then I turned my blender on low and let it run just until there weren’t any more whole strawberries.
They aren’t completely pureed.  There are still chunks.
And as far as I’m concerned, I’m happy to have just taken 2 minutes to eliminate a 20 minute cutting and mashing job.

You need two cups of crushed strawberries.

And a mixing bowl with four cups of sugar in it.

Pour the strawberries into the bowl of sugar and mix thoroughly.

When it’s all mixed together, set the bowl aside and set your timer for ten minutes.
And if you’re like me, and you need far more than one batch to satisfy your family, this ten minutes is when you get another batch started.  (That’s why I use the timer, so I can keep track of everything.)

After the ten minutes, add one pouch of liquid fruit pectin to the bowl.

And add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Now stir the jam for 3 minutes. (I set the timer again.)

My daughter liked taking that picture.

After three minutes, ladle the jam into containers.

Remember to leave about 1/2 inch headspace at the top of your container so the jam has room to expand when it freezes.
Wipe any drips off the container with a damp towel, put the lids on, and you’re set!
You have 3 options:
Serve immediately (you will be tempted!)
Refrigerate for up to three weeks
Freeze for up to 1 year

Here’s an important reminder:  use whatever measurements (sugar, lemon juice, crushed strawberries) come in the instructions for the pectin you choose to use!

No matter what you choose, enjoy!  It will be delicious!

Yum!  Now I’m craving some homemade bread!

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