"Pick Me"-Up Apple Butter

Welcome back Jammers! Have you all entered the drawing for my first giveaway? Make sure to check the previous post for the details…who wouldn’t want a gift certificate for $35!

Gather round the hearth, I want to share my first experience in making apple butter with you. As I’ve mentioned before, I work an overnight shift so my hours are quite a bit different than most, okay, fine, I‘ll say it, I have a weird schedule, there. A weird person needs a weird schedule to complete the whole persona, LOL,just kidding. On weekends, I try to sleep like the rest of the house does, in bed by midnight and up around 7 or 8. It can be difficult for me, I usually fall asleep fine, it’s staying asleep for more then 3 or 4 hours that’s tough. So I typically am up around 4am or so on Saturday and Sunday mornings then I will REQUIRE a 3 hour nap by 2pm or so. It works out ok and I wouldn’t trade my work schedule for anything…it is perfect for me and the activities we are involved in, from home schooling to Boy Scouts. Anyway, this past Saturday morning I found myself up before 5am and I was sure I wasn’t going back to sleep any time soon. All of a sudden it came to me…head to the kitchen and get on it, girl! I opened the windows (great cross breeze in my kitchen), lit some candles, pulled out “the” book (remind me to tell you about what basically translates as my Kitchen Bible) and started washing jars. I plugged the music in to the portable speakers and I was set. It was a beautiful morning making my butters as the sun came up. I have already posted the pumpkin butter that I made first, that morning. My second batch was apple butter. I had high hopes and it came out delicious and just like I expected.

A cinnamon or vanilla candle is nice to have burning when you are working with apples. If you put it right on your work board the combined scent of the candle and the fresh apples is wonderful and quite invigorating. I had a tall glass of the apple juice while I was prepping the apples and with the windows open and the sun fully up it was a magical start to the day! That day, I chose to associate the properties of my apples with choices (they are used in many ways throughout different cultures and periods as tools for divination), health (haven’t you heard the old saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away?), and love (apple bobbing was originally for boys to bite into the apple of his true love, the girls had polished and marked the apples on the bottoms before floating them in the tub). The cinnamon was for power and spirituality, the allspice was for health and prosperity and the cloves were for health, kinship and love. One-half teaspoon of cloves has more antioxidants than one-half cup of cranberries or blueberries. I am naming my apple butter “Pick Me”- Up Apple Butter. Pick Me, obviously is for the love side. Apples were one of the main things used back in Victorian times for love charms. Did you ever twist the stem of an apple while chanting the alphabet and what ever letter you were on when the stem popped off was the first letter of the person’s name that you were going to marry? We did it all the time…oh the memories. Pick Me Up is for a big boost of good health from the apples, allspice, cloves and apple juice.

“Pick Me”-Up Apple Butter

4 pounds tart apples (I used Granny Smith)

2 cups unsweetened organic apple juice
2 cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

Rinse apples in cool water and drain well. Core, peel and chop the apples. Preheat canner, sterilize jars and prepare the lids. In an 8 qt pan combine the apples and apple juice. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the apples are soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Press apples and juice through a fine meshed sieve. Return the pulp to the pan and stir in the sugar, butter, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until thick, about 30 minutes. As the butter thickens, stir constantly to prevent scorching.

Remove pan from heat and skim off any foam. Fill hot sterilized jars with the jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings and place jars in preheated canner. Bring canner to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and place on a towel on the counter and leave undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seal before storing. Use within 12 months.

Makes about 6 half pint jars.

Again, maybe it was the day or the energy that I was putting into my work that morning but this one came out absolutely PERFECT, just like the pumpkin did. I know my Mabert would be so proud. I am going to make sure she gets a jar of this for the holidays. There is one memory I would love to create in a jam or butter, hummm. I spent most Saturday nights with Mabert and Papa and would go to church every Sunday morning with her until I was about 11 or 12. Well, every Saturday night we would sit at the kitchen table and share “coffee” together while she prepared for her Sunday School lesson the next day. I would pretend to work in my bible too, underlining passages with a pencil, like she was doing. There was no rhyme or reason to which passages I chose to underline, I just remember underlining them because it seemed to add power to the words that were printed on the page. I didn’t really read the actual words it was more about marking it up so it looked used and worked in. We would have both had our baths, my bangs would be taped down and filled with Dippity-do and we would have on our matching “Grannie Gowns” which was a style, by the way, of nightgown as opposed to who actually made them, even though it was usually Mabert’s mom, my Grannie Winchester, that would have made mine. Anyway, she would have a small cup of hot coffee and a windmill cookie and my “coffee” was actually her blend of Russian Tea and a vanilla wafer or two. Every time I smell orange and clove combined I am instantly transported back to her kitchen on Saturday nights. Her Russian Tea was a blend of instant tea, Tang and cloves…I just saw Tang in the store, the other day, too. Has anyone out there seen a jam recipe that would be close to this?



Apple and Pumpkin Butters

 Have a great weekend everyone. I will try to get the next post done before Monday, which will be Lavender Jelly…it’s beautiful in the jar! Till then, remember to Be Blessed and Be Sweet!

 

Apple Butter

My first giveaway!!!

Good morning, Jammers! Are you ready for something a little different? I have decided to do a giveaway and am proud to offer a $35 gift certificate for you to use at any of the stores that are part of the CSN network. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from beautiful wardrobes to cookware to chic lighting pieces! How about a bar stool to perch upon while peeling and chopping those apples that are coming in, right now? My poor back could have used one the other day! I love this counter stool (pictured) and it would be perfect in my kitchen. They also have kids stores, patio and garden stores, furniture stores and just about ANYTHING for the kitchen that you may need. This is open to US and Canadian residents only. It is a one-time use certificate that you can apply to your order or if your item is under $35 with shipping, then you pay nothing extra! How about that? So, what do you need? The holidays are right around the corner, you could use it to get something special for that someone special.

Now I bet you are wondering about the other details, huh? Each person can have up to 3 entries. One for being a follower of my blog, one for being a fan (hitting the “Like” button) on the Facebook page, and one for telling me which item your would get if you win the gift certificate. You can become a follower and a Facebook fan by clicking the links on the right side of this page.

Now, I bet you are wondering how to enter…all you have to do is to leave me a comment, as a reply to this post, for each entry you are submitting (if you are doing all three then you would leave 3 separate comments). Simply say that you are a fan or a follower or which item you would get (you don’t have to actually get that particular item, you can choose anything you want when you place your order with them) and leave me your email address in the comment. Make sure to spell out ALL the words of your email address so those junk mail bots won’t grab your address, none of us like spam! Your comment should look something like this: I am a follower of your blog and my email address is sampleemail at anyhost dot com. Of course that’s not a real address ;-)

The contest will be open for 2 weeks and the winner will be randomly drawn on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Good luck to you all and get those entries in!
　
　
　

Plentiful Pumpkin Butter

Good morning Jammers, hope you all slept well. I am LOVING this weather. I think I will head outside tomorrow and give the grass one final mow for the season then put the mower to bed for the winter. Maybe I’ll find a beach towel to cover it with, in the shed, kind of like a blanket for it to sleep with for the few cold months that we get. I want it to be happy when we pull it out in the spring. We just bought it earlier this year, so it‘s still new to us. I guess you could say, we take good care of what we have around here, which is something else I learned from Mabert. Things last so much longer if you really take good care of them. On that note, I have noticed that the rack inside the new canner is already becoming discolored (it is metal). It looks like oxidation and is blackening and almost rusty is some spots…I wonder if it’s the vinegar that I am adding to the water? I dry it out each time. The canner itself is coated and it looks brand new, still. So, any thoughts from my scientific readers? Suggestions, tips?

One of my favorite jams is actually a butter, pumpkin butter. Butters do not have actual butter in them (other than the ½ teaspoon that I add to every batch I make to help the foam issue) but instead the term refers to a texture that is achieved by cooking it a long time. Lots of recipes I have seen use a slow cooker to cooking them in. When I decided to start this journey down the canning road, I checked out tons of books from the library and copied and compiled all the recipes that I wanted to try out. One thing I noticed that was missing from most of those books was pumpkin butter. It did appear in some of the older books, but not in the newer ones. So I turned to the web for some research, my normal response to any question I have, anymore. There are plenty of recipes out there on the web but I also found why it is not listed in the books. Apparently, the USDA changed it’s recommendations on canning mashed or pureed pumpkin (and winter squash) back in the late 80’s and revised them in the early 90’s. Now they do not recommend it at all, due to the varying viscosity, acid levels and water activity in each individual batch. Pumpkin and squash are low acid foods and are capable of supporting the growth of Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which can cause botulism, if not carefully stored. Hummm, debates are all over the web about this topic and apparently have been for years. I would never want to make anyone sick so I thought my solution was pretty smart…I’ll use canned pumpkin! I checked the label and it said it was pasteurized so that should help. I did find a recipe that calls for canned pumpkin and it was the easiest and fastest of any of the recipes I have done so far and WOW, it tastes great too. Perfect, just like I remember it.

Remember, when crafting anything in your kitchen, to properly focus your thoughts and intentions and infuse your creation. Light a candle, get in the mood and REALLY want to be making whatever it may be, at that time. Trust me, no one will want to eat it if you didn’t want to make it! Yucko. Now, the properties of pumpkins include fertility, abundance and being plentiful and lighting a Jack-O-Lantern on All Hallows Eve is said to bring luck to your home. They symbolize harvest and bounty, bringing to mind the fall season and Thanksgiving. They remind me to be thankful for everything I have and everything I am. The spices in this butter all carry many properties but I focus (for this recipe) on the cinnamon for spirituality, power and healing. The nutmeg for health and fidelity and the ginger for power and success. I like burning an autumn spice candle on my prep board while working with pumpkin but a vanilla one will do, in a pinch. My patron Goddess of my hearth is always thanked and acknowledged with the quick anointing of my wrists with pure vanilla or I have some perfume-oil that is vanilla. My son LOVES the smell and many times I will find him right beside me for this part. His grin goes from ear-to-ear just sniffing vanilla and his eyes will almost roll back in his head…he almost gets dizzy looking. I blessed my jars of this yummy butter with abundance, among other things, and am calling this my Plentiful Pumpkin Butter. May your cupboards never be bare and you always have plenty of NOT what you want but plenty of just what you need!
　

Plentiful Pumpkin Butter 

3 ½ cups canned solid pack pumpkin

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

4 cups sugar

1 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 3oz pouch liquid pectin

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. In an 8qt pan combine the pumpkin and spices, stirring until smooth and well blended. Gradually stir in both sugars and the butter. Over medium-low heat, heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until the sugars are dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a full rolling boil, still stirring constantly. Stir in contents of pectin pouch and return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring all-the-while.

Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam (mine did not have any) from the top. Ladle the butter into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed until the seals have popped and the jars are cooled. Store them in the refrigerator use within 4 months.

Makes about 7 half pint jars.

This came out FABULOUS! Perfect texture and blend of spices. The color is beautiful…now, MY pictures do not do it justice. The one thing I am beginning to see is that I need a better camera for photographing my shots. I need to work with better lighting, too. The flash is too bright and if the flash is off, they are fuzzy looking. Now, I have to learn to be a photographer to be a writer…go figure!

I’m considering some of the debates that I saw about the safety of canning pureed pumpkin and one thing that all, pretty much, agreed on was that you CAN make it. It just has to be kept refrigerated (or frozen) and used within a few months. This sounds like a good recommendation, to me, so I made it part of my recipe.

Another consideration I’m giving is hosting a giveaway. I’ve seen other bloggers doing this and it seems to be a real hit. I was contacted today by the company that does it, thanks to a new co-blogger friend, Andrea (a big shout-out to her, of http://andrea-thekitchenwitch.blogspot.com/ ). I will post the details as soon as I make a decision. Do any of you have any experiences with hosting or winning a blog giveaway? I’d love some feedback. Email me if you want or post your feedback to the Facebook page.

Ok, keep your eyes open and check back often. I still have the apple butter to post and I spent today trying 2 new batches, lavender (wait till you see the color on this) jelly and raspberry lavender jam. I’ll be busy typing them out over the next few days. I swear, this is like an addiction for me…I can’t stop! I found a recipe online for beer jam (yes, dark beer) posted at justgotcanned.com that I want to modify and try. I think the guys may like it, maybe a Guinness? Seasoned with citrus, cinnamon and cardamom. Head over there to check it out and I will post my version after I make it. What a collection it will make…sangria jam, Riesling jam, white zin jam and beer jam…what’s next, I ask?

Apple butter will be posted next, so, till then, remember to Be Blessed and Be Sweet!
　

Relaxing Peach Lavender Jam

Happy Monday Jammers, hope you all had a great weekend. Fall is definitely here, I enjoyed canning with the windows open Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:30 am and decided to do some canning. The breeze blowing through the kitchen was light but refreshing. We enjoyed the Jaguars football game yesterday afternoon, it was perfect football weather, warm but not hot, at all. I have issues with heights (extreme issues with not so high, heights) and it took me quite a while to adjust after we were in our seats (5^th row down from the VERY top). We were so appreciative of the tickets, I had won them in a raffle at work! It was a great afternoon. We also got our fall decorations up inside the house, harvest season is our favorite and my son’s birthday is actually on Halloween. I love having my kitchen witches out (I keep a few out year round but have others that go up just during the fall).

Did I mention that when I woke up Friday afternoon (I work overnights so I sleep during the morning/early afternoon) the “Canning Fairy” had come to visit? I found a brand new hot water bath canner (with a real lift out rack, not just a round flat cake rack that sits on the bottom) sitting nice and pretty on my stove, ready for my peach frenzy! Yay…no more burning my arms reaching in and out of the extremely tall pot I was using. One thing it goes to show is that you don’t really need special, fancy equipment, make use of what you already have, like I did. A jar lifter (under $5) is really about the only special tool that I would say you must have and I didn’t have anything that would be a safe substitute around my house. That same fairy had made a visit earlier last

 week, too, when I had left a note out that I needed a package of liquid pectin, I woke up, and found 4 boxes of pectin and a case of jars to boot! Woo-hoo…I LOVE my Canning Fairy…I must make sure to leave out some special treats, tokens and thank you’s around the kitchen for her.

So, on Friday night I went to town, making 2 batches of peach jam. It’s the end of the peach season and the last of them are coming in from the west coast. One batch was my regular peach and the other was a peach lavender. For the regular peach batch I had been giving some thought to something one of my online friends, Andrea, had mentioned after I made it the first time. She wanted to know how the color did, after time, since there was no ascorbic acid or lemon juice in it. Hummm, she is correct in her thought process BUT I had no way of knowing how it would look cause it is ALL GONE! My jar is empty and everyone I gifted it to has finished theirs up too. Hey, I guess this is a good thing. I do remember my Mabert ALWAYS using “Fruit Fresh” in all jams just like I remember her using the paraffin in the top of each jar, which by the way, I saw at Food Lion, next to the canning jars and paraffin. I guess they still do make it but I have yet to find any recipe that says to use it nor have I found anyone that actually claims to use it. Anyway, I did the plain peach with some Fruit Fresh this time, figuring, what the heck. It can‘t hurt, especially since there is no other citric acid in the recipe. Below is the updated recipe for my Perfectly Peachy Jam that I originally posted on 9/16/2010.

Perfectly Peachy Jam (updated)

3 lbs (about 8 or 9 medium) fresh ripe peaches

1/2 cup water
6 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon Fruit Fresh or any ascorbic acid crystals

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. To prepare peaches, dip the whole peach into a medium saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds then plunge it into a large bowl of ice water. The skins should now just slip right off. Remove the pits and chop the peaches into small bits and then crush them, one cup at a time, with a handheld potato masher. Stir in the Fruit Fresh, until dissolved.

Combine the peaches and water in a tall, heavy, saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Add the sugar and return to a slow boil, until the sugar dissolves and then boil rapidly, until thick, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Make sure to not let it scorch. Test for doneness, which is 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam from the top. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 6 - 7 half pint jars.

Now, remember, I also mentioned the properties of peaches last month and that they are a symbol of marriage? They are associated with female fertility, abundance, fruitfulness and happiness. I recommended making and gifting the peach jam to newlyweds as a housewarming gift or maybe in a comfort-food basket as a baby or wedding shower gift. The 2^nd peach batch I made was a peach lavender jam. Lavender is associated with love, protection and sleep. This would only serve to strengthen the existing properties I talked about with the peach. Love for the newlyweds or the new parents, protection for the new household and it’s members and all new parents could use some good sleep when they can find the time to close their eyes for a bit. Lavender is also calming so this one is perfect as a bed-time snack on a bit of homemade bread or maybe a croissant with some herbal tea. Due to the properties of lavender, I am renaming this one my Relaxing Peach Lavender Jam.

Relaxing Peach Lavender Jam

2 tablespoons dried organic lavender flowers

1/2 cup boiling water
4 cups finely chopped peaches (about 5-6 medium)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 3oz pouch liquid pectin

Preheat canner, sterilize jars and prepare the lids. Place lavender flowers in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over flowers and steep for 20 minutes. Strain and discard flowers. Combine lavender liquid, peaches, lemon juice and sugar in a large pan. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil hard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin.

Fill hot sterilized jars with the jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings and place jars in preheated canner. Bring canner to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and place on a towel on the counter and leave undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seal before storing. Use within 12 months.

Makes about 8 half pint jars.

Now, Let me tell you, the scent of this jam is like no other I have smelled. It is delightful and the actual lavender flavor is perfect. It is really more of a lavender essence since you don’t see the lavender but the flavor is there in perfect combination with the peaches. This is the most delicate and feminine of all of my jams to date, so I dedicated this batch to ALL the Goddesses that I know and work with and those that bless my hearth! May they bless your’s too.




Relaxing Peach Lavender on the left and Perfectly Peachy on the right

 

Relaxing Peach Lavender on the left and Perfectly Peachy on the right



Later in the week, I will post another recipe. I was so thrilled this morning when my two butters, apple and pumpkin, came out perfect! The pumpkin was the fastest recipe I have made so far and was ready to process within minutes. I will also talk about why I couldn’t find any pumpkin butter recipes in ANY of the library books (there are plenty on the web just not in books) that I checked out when I was researching and compiling my list of jam recipes I wanted to try. I’ll also share my solution, which is what makes this recipe so easy and quick but oh-so-DELICIOUS! Make sure to check back and if you want to be reminded of new postings to the blog then become a fan on my Facebook page (the link is on the upper right side of this page).

I am excited to find another jam to add the lavender essence to, do you have any ideas? Leave a comment if you have seen it used in jam before or if you have a good idea for one to add it to. I was thinking of maybe a Vanilla Pear Lavender? What do you think, let me know.

Get out and enjoy the weather, this week, and remember to Be Blessed and Be Sweet, till next time!

　

Spicy Yogi Blueberry Jam

Good rainy evening, Jammers! I am loving listening to the rain on the sun room roof this evening. We have been so dry this month, it’s like music to my ears. My poor basil was about to call it quits on me…I couldn‘t keep up with watering what with everything else going on around here lately. I guess we should be ready for a pretty wet few days with the storm system that is headed our way from the Caribbean. She should be called Tropical Storm Nicole sometime tomorrow. No need to worry, it will pass us to the east and will be a weak storm so just plenty (hopefully) of rain. We will definitely head out to the beach on Thursday to watch the surf and look for shells when the tide is out. We find great shells when there are storms out at sea, I can‘t wait.

Well, I made a new batch of jam today. I put a poll question on the blog last week so that you, my loyal and faithful readers, could choose what I made next. So, after double checking the results, I pulled out my recipe and whipped out a batch of Spiced Blueberry Honey Jam. Now before I get to the recipe, I wanted to share a bit about the outcome, yes, I know I am jumping the gun, but I was worried about my seals. Usually, on all the other batches I have made so far, the lids will start popping (sealing) within just a few minutes of removing them from the canner and have usually all sealed within 15 minutes, or so. Well today, only 1 out of 6 popped right away. I began to worry, but remembered that I had read to be patient while they cool and that it could take up to 24 hours. I guess this is why you are supposed to leave them undisturbed for that 24 hours…it takes them a while to “do their thing“. This batch took hours, for some reason. The last jar popped almost 5 hours after the lid was applied. Any ideas on why it took so long compared to the others?

I took a picture of my pots this time so you could see what I meant by my “tall” canner that I am using. Remember, it’s the pot from my turkey fryer. The other is my 8 qt. stockpot that I use for cooking the actual jams in.



Now, I did my research prior to making my jam this afternoon and found that blueberries are associated with peace, calmness and protection. I also saw references on quite a few websites that they are good for your kidneys, too. Okay, it's good to know, huh? Do further research if you are interested in this aspect as I am NOT qualified to give any medical advice. Honey is associated with happiness and fulfillment while nutmeg is associated with promoting health and fidelity. In some countries people carried a whole nutmeg in their pocket to attract good fortune. When I visualize these attributes, I am seeing the peace, calm, fulfillment and good health and this slowly manifests itself in my mind as a room full of yoga enthusiasts…do ya see it too? Based on this I am going to rename this one Spicy Yogi Blueberry Jam.

Spicy Yogi Blueberry Jam

2 ½ cups fresh or frozen coarsely chopped blueberries (I used frozen)

2 ½ cups sugar

1 cup liquid honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 3oz pouch liquid pectin

　
Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. In an 8 qt pan combine the blueberries, sugar, honey, lemon juice, nutmeg and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly, and boil hard for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the pectin. Skim off any foam. To prevent the jam from separating in the jars, allow the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute, or so, to distribute the fruit. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 6 half pint jars.

This jam is gorgeous in the jar and is perfectly spicy and not too overly sweet. I think you will really love it, I did! I have to debate keeping a jar in the fridge. I have a jar of everything I have done so far in the fridge right now and well, lets just say I’m gonna have to find more uses for them, quick! Ooooh, I just remembered 6^th grade home-economics class, we did little jam filled refrigerator biscuits sprinkled with powdered sugar. They were like little crescent shaped pies. Maybe next time the girls get together I will make them and call them my “special little moon pies”. This jam would be PERFECT, kind of like a little blueberry pie.

Okay, I have 2 more batches coming up for next week. Both are peach based and I may try to get more peaches and do another 2 after that. I have 4 or 5 recipes that I really want to try and peach has been the most popular and requested one from my original batches to date. It’s coming up on the end of the peach harvests for a while so I need to stock up. Basic Peach and Peach Lavender to start then Peach Butter and Peach Melba (peaches and raspberries) for the next time.

Have a great hump day and remember, Be Blessed and Be Sweet!
　
　

Coming up next...

Good Monday Jammers!  Here's hoping you all had a fabulous weekend and are well rested and ready for the workweek, I sure am.  I shared two jars of my Forbidden Banana Rum Jam with good friends over the weekend and they LOVED it.  I can't wait to make another batch, it was so inexpensive and easy to make.  I have got to start stocking my creations up instead of giving them all away or else I won't have any left by the time the Yule season is here and it is supposed to be our gifts for everyone.  Times are tight this year so all I can say to all of my friends and family is, "We hope you like Jams!"

I had posted a poll to determine which recipe I will try this week and the winner was the Spiced Blueberry Honey Jam.  I plan to go get ingredients either today or tomorrow and should have the recipe and results up by Thursday or Friday.  I am also going to go ahead and be prepared to make the batch after that as the Peach Lavender Jam so it will be the next week's posting (since it was a close 2nd in the poll).  Keep checking back! 

We threw a small dinner party on Saturday night for one of our best friends and it was a big success.  It was ladies only and we started on the living room floor with an honoring ceremony then proceeded to the dining room for a sit down Italian themed meal.  My whole day on Saturday was broken into 15 minute segments for getting the house, myself and the meal just right and each course out at the right time.  I had a BLAST and can't wait to do it again.  The menu consisted of a homemade blended herb dipping oil, with a big loaf of Italian bread and was followed by a chopped romaine salad with Parmesan cheese and croutons and a choice of 2 different vinaigrette dressings.  The main course was a baked penne rigate with meat sauce and loads of mozzarella, ricotta and provolone cheeses and also linguine tossed with a light tomato herb sauce.  Dessert was a homemade Italian love cake that I had not made before.  I was a bit nervous but it was to-die-for!!!  Our friend blew out the numeral candles, 5 and 0, and everyone raved at how good the cake was.  Even those that usually are not big sweet fans loved it.  I had requests for some of the recipes from that night and I spent today pondering where to post them.  This page is for my jams, jellies and preserves so I decided to create a 2nd blog where I can occasionally post other recipes and kitchen tips.  You can find a link over at the top on the right------>  The link is http://frommyhearthtoyourhearth.blogspot.com/

Head over and check it out if you are interested in the herb oil spice blend that I used or the cake recipe.  Don't forget to show me some love over there too, by leaving comments or becoming a follower.

Check back on this page by the end of the week for the Spiced Blueberry Honey Jam recipe...for those on the Facebook fan page you will get a reminder when a new post has been made.  Till then, Be Blessed and Be Sweet!

Forbidden Banana Rum Jam

Hi-Ho Jammers, glad to see you back! It’s almost the weekend and I am sooo ready. I have a very stuffy nose and head and am dreading taking the awful cold medicine, blah. Good thing we bought a case of tissues at BJ’s. We are hosting a little private dinner party on Saturday night and I have shopping, cleaning and cooking to do…no time for side effects of meds. It is an Italian themed meal with bread and dipping oil (I am making the seasoning herbs myself) and an Italian crisp salad followed by two types of pasta dishes and I am going to make my first ever Italian Love Cake for dessert. I have heard it's a yummy dessert…we will see.

I have created a fan page on Facebook. The link is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jammin-From-The-Hearth/110986352295641 . You can visit this page and hit the “Like” button and this will be where I send out notices that the blog has been updated, for those of you that do not want to subscribe directly. I started getting friend requests for my personal Facebook page but that is reserved for friends and family only. Sorry, hope I didn’t offend anyone, but I thought a fan page would be the solution so everyone, known and unknown, can stay updated and share there.

So, I put-up a new jam on Monday and I know you have all been waiting to hear about it (yes, I did get emails asking for it to hurry up and be posted). Are you ready…drum roll, please…Banana-Rum Jam. Now, before I get to the recipe part I want to share in something I did a bit differently. The pot I use as my canner is really tall (it’s the pot that came with the turkey fryer) and my round cake rack sits perfectly in the bottom. The downside to that tall pot is that I basically have to stand on a chair to lift the jars in and out while it sits on the stove…I know, I know, it’s dangerous. This time I thought I would try my large spaghetti pot that is part of my cookware set which is not nearly as tall but it’s almost as big around. Turns out my cake rack would not sit down inside of it though, so I remembered that I had read that you can tie some old jar rings together (I used bread ties to do it with) and use that as a rack.

　
It did sit in my pot nicely and when I put my empty jars into it to simmer I noticed that they did not sit perfectly flat on the rack. I adjusted to water level to make sure I could get 2 or 3 inches of water over the top and the pot was just tall enough. Well, I went ahead and made the jam and then I removed the hot jars from the water to fill them. Now, I was not using the science side of my brain (think water displacement here…actually water and vinegar displacement) and when I started to load the filled jars into the pot (I didn’t have to stand on a chair this time which was nice…not to mention much safer) the water rose to the top and by my 3^rd jar the water overflowed everywhere. So now here I stand with a pyrex measuring cup trying to remove some of the hot water, so I could continue adding the jars, and it turned into a messy nightmare, quick! By the time it was loaded I had to have the water level right at the top of the pot, to make sure there was enough to cover the jars properly BUT the jars would not sit upright. It took long wooden spoons in each hand trying to upright the jars and not burn myself too badly. Over half of them were cock-eyed but mostly upright to I put the lid on and cranked the stove to high. Remember, you have to bring it to a full boil before you start the processing time…well when it finally starting boiling, it was spitting and sputtering from under the lid and water was coming out all sides (vinegar water due to the white residue I mentioned in another post) and I ended up with the WHOLE stove top covered in hot water AND, as I was so mildly informed this morning, it had also leaked down into the stove top (under the burners) and was an inch or so deep in there! EEEKK! Anyway, I guess I will be wishing for that “real” canning pot with the nice lift out rack that I saw at Walmart the other day, as a Christmas present…it was under $20.

So on to the jam recipe. This one was requested by many and my first time of tasting a banana jam. Let me tell you, I LOVE it! It reminds me of one of my favorite all-time desserts, Bananas Foster. This would be great warmed over a good vanilla bean ice cream. I also thought about one of my favorite sandwiches from childhood…banana and peanut butter, which is the first thing I did with it. Oh my…it was delicious! Now, bananas are associated with fertility, potency and prosperity and are most often associated with a masculine energy as opposed to feminine energy. A good internet search will show that women in Hawaii were once forbidden to eat bananas, by law! Go figure. I am naming this one my Forbidden Banana Rum Jam.

Forbidden Banana Rum Jam

3 ¾ cups peeled and diced ripe bananas (about 9 medium)

6 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Fruit Fresh (or you can use antioxidant crystals or ascorbic acid crystals)

5 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter

1 3oz pouch liquid pectin

1 ½ teaspoons rum extract

Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. In an 8 qt pan combine the bananas, lemon juice and Fruit Fresh. Stir in the sugar and butter. Over med-low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. Increase the heat to med-high and bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the entire contents of the pectin pouch, Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Remove pan from the heat. Skim off any foam. Stir in the rum extract. To prevent the jam from separating in the jars, allow the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute, or so, to distribute the fruit. Ladle the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals before storing and use within 12 months.

Makes about 7 half pint jars.

I love this jam! The texture is nice and it is perfectly sweetened. I won’t change a thing next time. I would like to maybe try one variation to it just for some variety and substitute some brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar (I will research how to do this) for a true New Orleans flavor reminiscent of one of my favorite restaurants there, Antoine’s.

Ok…I am headed to dig out the vapor rub. Mabert would always smear some on our chests (actually she would then cover that with a warm washcloth tied around our necks) and a dabble under the nose to help clear the stuffiness. I’m also gonna brew a cup of hot tea with honey.

Make sure to vote in the poll, to the right at the top, for which jam I should make next week. I am going to do another basic peach (they are on sale this week) but I want to do something else too…what shall it be? You decide!

Till then...Be Blessed and Be Sweet!