Jammin'

I went to see Papa and Nanny King, and Nanny asked if I needed peaches. Of course I said "Yes". I decided I would make some peach jam/preserves. It is a wonderfully, dreary Labor Day... what else is a girl to do?

So you begin with 7 1/2 cups of sugar (almost a 5lb. bag)!

The next step is to prepare your jars. You wash the jars, and I leave them in the sink so I can pour boiling water over them, further sanitizing them.

The bands are washed, too.

The lids go in a saucepan and boiling water is poured over top. Then they just sit until ready to use.

An hour later, I have finely chopped 4 cups of peaches.

This is what 4 cups of peaches look like after you add 7 1/2 cups of sugar.
After continuously stirring until this mixture come to a full, rolling boil, I add the Certo. This is what makes is jam/jelly.

Once that occurs, everything moves very fast. You continue stirring and boiling for exactly 1 minute, then it's time to fill the jars. I wipe the rims, place the lids, screw on the bands, and then it's bath time.
The jar get a water bath for 10 - 15 minutes. I remove the jars and wait for the "pop". Once they pop, they are good to go. The jars sit overnight on the counter to completely cool and jam. I apparently used peaches that weren't quite ripe, so a lot of the fruit stayed in the top of the jars. Oh well... it will still be good.

I still have a mound of peaches, so I guess a Peach Crumble will be for dessert tonight! If you've never made jelly/jam, I suggest doing it once with someone who has made it before. I was shown 4 or 5 years ago, and I have made grape jelly, peach jam, and cherry jelly. It would be easier to just buy jelly at the store, but homemade is just so much better!