we made a second batch of raspberry jam because the first was so awesome.
4 cups raspberries, pureed and strained
3 cups sugar
2 TBSP pectin
and we got 5 half pint jelly jars, plus one little quarter pint jar.
we had the jars in hot water in the canner, pulled them out and filled them, and they all sealed.
more rapsberry jam
yummy yummy raspberry jam
the summercrisp pears (they ripen early, in august)
summercrisp pears
i made pearsauce back at my house with most of them. i brought the rest to my moms for blueberry pear jam.
the pears were too ripe for blanching so we peeled them by hand and chopped them up.
blueberries, pureed, and strained
cooking down the pears
pureeing with the stick blender after cooking until soft
blueberries have a lot of pectin, and just the pureed blueberries turned solid in the fridge and wouldnt come out of the bowl when tipped on its side
blueberries and pears
blueberry pear jam
blueberry pear jam
4 cups blueberries, pureed and strained
14 summercrisp pears from my tree, the blemished ones. medium to small size.
that got us 6 cups of peeled and chopped pears with all the bad parts cut out.
2 TBSP lemon juice
we cooked the pears down on the stove with the lemon juice and pureed them. added the blueberries.
5 cups sugar
4 TBSP pectin
we got 1 pint jar, 7 half pint jelly jars, plus one half pint in tupperware (ran out of jelly jars).
it turned out ok, fully edible, but not much pear taste. in the future, more pears, less blueberries.
canning peaches
colorado peaches
mountain gold, tree ripened, though why a pickaxe is needed....?
16 pounds, 44 peaches
wash/sterileize the jars and rings
our setup - from left to right/bottom to top - a bowl for cutting, a bowl to catch the spill of syrup and dropping peaches into, the yellow bowl is cold water for holding peeled peaches before i get to cutting them, the green bowl is cold water for blanching and rubbing the peels, the silver pot on the stove is the hot water for blanching, the big black canner is behind it
the stovetop - back right- a little pot of water for heating up the lids, back left- the syrup, front left- water for blanching, front right- the canner
blanching the peaches - put in nearly boiling water for a few seconds, then drop in cold water and the peels rub right off. this water needs to be changed often because it fills up with peels and warms up.
filling the jar with peaches
cutting up the peaches (these in-progress pictures are hard to get because i have to stop and wash all the sticky off my hands, and dry them super well so i dont kill the camera). the red spatula is to help pack more stuff in the jar and let the air out. the metal measuring cup is for scooping syrup from the pan to the jar.
yummy peaches!
more peaches
peaches
jam
then we canned peaches.
we had 1 box, 46 peaches (44 plus 2 from moms fridge). colorado mountain gold. mom paid $29 for the box at cub.
the syrup was 18 cups water and 4 cups sugar - with about 2 cups of syrup leftover
we added 18 tsp of fruit fresh produce protector (which was half the skinny little jar)
we got 19 pints, with 4 peaches leftover.
processed 13 minutes in the canner.
some of the peach pits were a little clingy.
