It's Jam Time!

I think almost all of the friends and family who read our blog are in Oklahoma and I think you'd have to live under a rock to not know about the recent tornados that tore through the Shawnee area on Sunday and Moore on Monday, but I still feel like I should say that for those of you who aren't aware of the massive amount of damage these storms did - it was truly devastating. If you find it in your heart to make a donation to one of the many organizations working in the area, they desperately need any and all assistance they can get. Even if all you can send are prayers, please do. Lives were lost, and there are people hurting right now whose lives will never be the same, so anything you can do to help will be appreciated by all.

Now, on to a lighter note!

Joe and I ran across some apricots at the grocery store this week, which means it's jam-makin' time for me! My mom started making apricot pineapple jam when I was little, and a few years ago I decided to pick it up for myself. Making jam is actually pretty quick and easy, the most time consuming part is cutting up the fruit. Here's the recipe I use:

6 cups chopped apricots (buy about 2 1/2 lbs of apricots at the store)
16 oz canned crushed pineapple in syrup
4 cups sugar
1 package less sugar/no sugar needed pectin (I use sure-jell)
1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine (optional, to reduce foaming)

The original recipe actually called for a 15 1/4 ounce can of crushed pineapple in syrup which I couldn't find at my grocery store, so I rounded up and bought two 8 ounce cans of pineapple instead, which worked out fine for me.

We shop at the Giant Eagle Market District grocery store here in PA which is by far the best grocery store I've ever been to (seriously, it's awesome). They had a new kind of apricot that I'd never heard of before in addition to regular apricots - they're called "Black Velvet" apricots. Their skin is a beautiful rich reddish-purple color, and I just knew I had to try making some of this jam with these beauties.

First, chop up the apricots leaving the skin on but remove the pits. Put the chopped fruit in a high-walled stock pot for cooking.

Then add the crushed pineapple (undrained) to the apricots in the stock pot.

Finally, mix the pectin with 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl and mix it in with the fruit in the stock pot. Once everything is mixed together, turn your burner on high and stir gradually with a large metal spoon (using a metal rather than plastic spoon helps cut down on foaming, or so I've been told). You want the mixture to reach a rolling boil, meaning that the mixture still boils even while being stirred. 

NOTE - I always set aside the remaining 3 3/4 cups of sugar in a bowl so that it's ready to add to the pot once the fruit starts to boil. If you try to go directly from the sugar container to the stock pot using a measuring cup, you'll burn the jam for the short time that you aren't stirring it. 

Once the fruit mixture reaches a rolling boil, dump the remaining 3 3/4 cups sugar into the stock pot and mix it in well with the fruit. Continue stirring constantly until the mixture reaches a rolling boil again. At this point, if you're seeing a lot of foam forming at the top of the mixture, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of butter or margarine which will help reduce it. I don't usually see a lot of foaming with the reduced sugar pectin, but if you have a lot form at the top just scrape it off with your spoon into a separate bowl or onto a paper towel. 

Once the jam reaches a rolling boil again after adding the sugar, stir constantly for 1 minute and then remove the pot from the heat. Immediately scoop the jam into prepared jars and use your preferred method of sealing them - you want the jam within 1/8 inch away from the top of the jar. I don't have a fancy canning system, so I just place the jars in the kitchen sink which I fill with VERY hot water. You want at least 1 inch of water above the tops of the jars. The metal tops will eventually seal themselves, and you can tell they're ready by pushing on the center of the lid. If it pops in and pushes back out, the jar isn't ready. If it doesn't give, the jar has been sealed. I use 8 oz jam jars, and this recipe fills about 7 or 8 of these jars for me. 

Here's the finished product! The black velvet jam is on the right, and the jam made with normal apricots is on the left. This stuff is SO good - you gotta try it out!