After leaving Brookings, we headed back to the farm for the rest of the week!
My mom had bought a couple lugs of peaches at the grocery store earlier in the week because they looked good, and by Friday they were PERFECTLY ripe and ready to make peach jam. Good thing the kids and I were there to help! And Dad made sure I took pictures so that I could write this all down and remember how to do it myself someday, like I had done for
strawberry jam. =)
1. Gather supplies needed: SureJell, sugar, jars, screw band rings,
NEW lids, canning funnel, stockpot, bowls, measuring cups, ladle, rubber
spatula, trivets, bath towel, hot pads, dish towel, wash cloth.
[this will require Dad to go into town to pick up sugar and SureJell and bakery bread and stop at Verlyn's for a pop.]
2. Wash jars and screw band rings in hot soapy water. Rinse well and air dry. OR run jars and rings through the sani-wash cycle on the dishwasher.
3. Get perfectly ripe lug of peaches. Resist temptation to just eat them all plain.
4. Tape SureJell instructions onto the microwave for easy reference
5. Pour boiling water over lids in a small bowl (or pyrex measuring cup!)
6. Get a large bowl of ice water ready in the sink (frozen pop bottles work in a pinch) if you don't have enough ice.
7. Bring 4-6 quarts of water up to a boil in a pot to. Put out 5-6 peaches in a bowl.
8. Drop them gently into the boiling water for a minute. This will loosen the skins without cooking the peach.
9. Immediately transfer them to the bowl of ice water! Enlist small children to slide the skin right off the peaches and put in the bucket. Hand slimy peaches to Boppa and Momma for slicing.
10. Slice open peaches and discard the pits in the bucket.
11. Slice peaches into small parts. Do not make perfect slices. Make more random small slices with your knife and the peaches will break down better in the jam. (Lesson from Grandma Grace)
12. Measure out 4 cups of peaches.
13. Measure out 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice.
14. Put peaches, lemon juice, and one package of SureJell in a large stockpot over high heat. STIR CONSTANTLY!
[Realize that you are probably not going to have enough SureJell for how many peaches you have and send Mom to town to get more from the grocery store]
15. While one person stirs, get jars and lids and spoons ready to go.
16. Have your tiny helpers measure out 5 1/2 cups of sugar into a bowl.
[Realize that you are not going to have enough sugar for how many peaches you have and send Cary to town to get more sugar.]
17. KEEP STIRRING CONSTANTLY! Add an oven mitt to your hand as it will get splurty. Stir until fruit mixture comes to a full rolling boil, where it doesn't stop even when you are stirring it.
18. Pour in the sugar, and keep stirring! Bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil.
19. Boil AND STIR the jam for 1 minute, then remove from heat to the trivet you set up by your jars.
20. Skim off some of the foam and put it in a separate bowl. DO NOT throw away as it tastes delicious on bread or over ice cream!
21. Working quickly, ladle hot jam into mason jars up to the ring.
22. Wipe the rim of the jar with a wet wash cloth, put a lid and a ring on the top, and tighten.
23. Flip jar upside down on bath towel for 5 minutes. This is important to sealing the jars and getting the peach bits evenly dispersed in the jam. And if you are working very quickly, the heat from the boiling jam mixture will seal and preserve it in the jars so you don't need to do a water bath canning process.
24. Any extra jam you can put in a bowl to be used right away. And quality control is very important!
25. Clean up time! Wash all pots and utensils, and then repeat the entire process for however many peaches you have or batches you want! Each batch makes approximately 4 pints of jam.
26. Remember to flip over jars after 5 minutes and leave them on the towel to cool for twenty-four hours. Become giddy every time you hear a "ploink" of a lid sealing! And if there are any that don't seal, put in the refrigerator to be used right away. All others can be stored in the pantry. Best if used within a year, but honestly that has never been a problem!
*Bonus step, but just as essential and traditional. You must have fresh peach jam and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch on fresh bakery bread! And you must finish the whole loaf because you need to experience that kind of deliciousness in life.
[Realize that you don't have enough peanut butter for sandwiches for everyone, but serve just jam sandwiches instead because you are NOT going back to town again!]
