Thank you!
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Will do!
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One more.
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This recipe doesn’t say what kind of pectin; I have low sugar powder, and liquid. Liquid seems preferred for pepper jellies but it goes in at the end, instead of the beginning. Also, is the vinegar in this recipe for flavor or pH? There should be plenty of acid from the citrus, no?
"Rosemary Three Citrus Jamalade " inspired by “The View from the Great Island” recipe. (Blood orange, grapefruit, Meyer lemon) .
…and @Nannybakes , I just saw the first local 
sign!
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Lucky you! I hope you have the time to try the strawberry lemon jam. Mother’s Day weekend is usually the beginning of the short lived strawberry season by me.
The three citrus marmalade looks mighty delicious…beautiful color!
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Apparently I was not the first person to think of “Jamalade”.
More ideas.
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It won’t be long now, my lovelies! Okay,yes it will.
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YAY! Jamming season is here!
Today I drove across the county in the rain to buy a well-priced flat of strawberries from a farm I’ve picked at/bought from before. I am a strawberry obsessive and I like to think I have an eye for good berries, but these were among the best I’ve ever purchased. In eight quarts, I might have found 4 berries that were bruised at all, the flavor and ripeness of the berries were both outstanding, and the size was pretty uniform, which is very unusual.
Anyway, tonight I began making two batches of Christine Ferber’s strawberry jam, one plain and one that will have black pepper and mint.
After strawberry season, I’ll make small batches of raspberry and blackberry (the de-seeding is so incredibly tedious and mom won’t eat either flavor, so a few jars will do,) then a LOT of peach, a bit of apricot (the harvest around here is not consistent, so it’s always a toss-up if I’ll be able to make any), some tomato jam from my homegrown tomatoes, and finally plum. I spent years making sour cherry jam and not convincing anyone else to eat any, so I’ll funnel my cherry energy into pie, crumbles, cake, etc.
Last year I also canned peaches in syrup for the first time in my canning career. Canned peaches were something my mother made when I was a kid, so it was mostly a little exercise in nostalgia. I didn’t expect to be gobsmacked by the peaches when I opened the first jar in the middle of winter, but I was. They were canned plain, but had developed a luscious, honeyed flavor that just knocked me out.
Other things I can: chopped tomatoes, homemade applesauce, and pear butter. All water bath - I’ve never pressure-canned, but I really should.
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We made Christine Ferber’s strawberry jam this weekend and it is delicious, but it came out more like strawberries in syrup. Has that been your experience with that recipe? I’m wondering if we are doing something wrong or if that is more the French style jam. Either way, it has wonderful flavor!
Would you mind sharing a good recipe for that? I want to try it myself… Thanks!
As for de-seeding raspberries and so on, I use a food mill for that. Works pretty good. I did make a strawberry and raspberry jam a few weeks ago, without de-seeding. Wasn’t necessary here.
For those who are interested: I always use the same approach, i.e. normal white sugar (no added pectine) at a ratio of 40% to fresh fruit (so 400 grams sugar for 1 kilogram of fruit). Macerate overnight with some lemon juice, and sometimes if I like it I add a splash of booze at the end of cooking. The strawberry raspberry jam below was made with grappa (oh and some vanilla as well).
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If you like gently boozy fruit, here is my absolute favorite for (small batch) peaches:
1 lb. perfect peaches, halved, peeled and pitted
Simple syrup from 1 c. sugar and 1 c. water, boiled until slightly thickened
About 3 T. brandy
*Hot pack the peach halves in 2 hot pint jars, add the brandy, cover with syrup and process as per guidelines.
When made from good, fresh peaches, these are heavenly.
Same formula can be used for pears, cherries and apples (apples will require lemon juice for acidity).
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That’s for jam? Does the size of the batch matter? How long do you cook, or how do you decide when it’s “done”? I use a similar recipe, but it’s for small batches and not for canning. It’s from CI which says I can “share it”, but you know them; could be behind a paywall.
Yeah, the set is definitely looser.
I don’t remember what peach recipe I used. I suspect I used “light” or “medium” syrup and this general method.
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Yes, jam. Normal jam. Size of the batch doesn’t matter - I always use around 40% sugar. What could matter is the sweetness of the fruit, eg sweeter fruit does not need as much sugar. But then I’ll still use the 40% ratio because then the jam will reflect the sweetness of the fruit.
How do I know it’s done? By experience I must admit. My guideline is 20 minutes from the moment the jam is cooking but I just stop by feeling. Sometimes sooner than 20 min, sometimes later.
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The strawberry harvest was very poor here in NJ. We only jammed 4 flats. Because of scarcity, my local sources were reluctant to sell to me at $32 per flat when they were selling at the farmers markets for $7-$8 per quart. Eh - apricots next.
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I started a bit later this year: made one batch of roasted rhubarb compote. I still have about 2 dozen jars from last season, so I need to be a bit more restrained this year! Strawberries cost more this year: there are fewer vendors at my farmer’s market, and a flat is $40!
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