Making Jam

I was able to go home last week to visit my parents. The kids were at camp and my neighbor wanted to go to Lubbock so we just took off. It was so nice to spend time with them.

Dad decided that I was ready to learn something new. Something he used to watch his mama do and then he taught himself - the art of making jam.

Anyone that knows my dad, knows that when he teaches you something the instructions are very well planned out and timed down to the minute. That's not really how I roll. I do a lot of guessing and adding this and that when I'm at the stove but since he was instructing me, I followed his directions to the letter and the results were AMAZING!




First of all, he had all the supplies laid out that we would need. I would never have thought of that but I found out quickly that you have to be able to grab what you need in a hurry so that things don't get out of control while you're frantically searching for what you need.




Exactly 31 apricots make one batch of jam. Yes, there is one extra. That was for the cats. They like to play with apricots.



I was super excited to learn that you don't have to peel apricots. You just halve them, take out the seed and any blemishes and that's it.



The apricots go in the food processor until this beautiful orange, thick, a little chunky consistency is made. You put this on the stove with some lemon juice, pectin, and a little butter. When it starts to boil, a whole bunch of sugar is added and I mean a whole bunch, like a mountain of sugar.



It cooks until you get a nice rolling boil and then you let it keep boiling for 1 minute. Now you have a beautiful orange gold liquid that goes into the jars.



Lids go on.



Now they are ready for a 20 minute bath in boiling water.



Beautiful and delicious.

We made 2 batches of these and they both turned out great. So, of course, I think I'm a jam making expert now. On the drive home, my neighbor and I were talking about all things we could start putting in jars. I was even imagining all the Christmas gifts I could put together with homemade jam and fresh baked bread.
Upon my return home, I rushed to Sam's to get supplies to make strawberry jam. I followed the directions from Pioneer Woman and now I have 12 jars of strawberry syrup.
Back to the drawing board. I'm not quite the expert I thought I was.