Putting Up Jam A La Em-i-lis!!!
Toast and Jam
I was so inspired by Emily’s guest post the other day, I decided to give canning a try. Mind you I don’t have the proper equipment but I did happen to have some unused Weck canning jars. I followed Emily’s instructions but used peaches and apricots instead of strawberries (because I didn’t have any) The jam itself is amazing, I just got everything out of the pot after processing for 10 minutes but don’t know if it took. I can’t tell with Weck jars. I will have to read about it. I think that I will purchase a bunch of ball canning jars and have some fun. Thank you Emily for the inspiration. The tulip jar is not full so I didn’t process, that will sit in the refrigerator and get eaten immediately. I used a deep heavy pot, first sterilized the jars and then placed a round cooling rack on the bottom of the pan and brought to boiling. I didn’t have proper tongs with rubber tips so I used my regular tongs and it worked but was a bit precarious. I will invest in proper canning equipment so I can really do this right. This was fun!!
Peach/Apricot/Ginger Jam: (Adapted from Emily’s Strawberry Cardamom Jam)
4 cups peaches and apricots (I peeled the peaches but not the apricots)
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 smallish apple grated (peeled)
1 1/4 cup organic sugar
1/4 cup honey (Was wishing I had the calmer sutra ginger honey)
In the pot
The tulip jar is not full unprocessed
The Jam must sit for 2 hours
apuginthekitchen 
Looks delicious!
It’s delicious and I am working to overcome my fear of canning.
I’m going to try this – love your flavor combo! I am not a very good jam maker which is why I tend to make chutneys (easier) but your glowing review of her recipe inspires me.
Liz, it was so easy. I love your chutney’s and they are similar in process. I am positive you would make some incredible jam. Thank you.
I am loving this version of yours. A big fan of ginger and am sure must have complimented well the apricots and peaches with honey. Excellent share :).
Thank you, it’s delicious and fresh tasting. One of the jars didn’t process so it’s going to be refrigerator jam but the other two worked. So excited and I am sure I’ll get better at it.
I run in the other direction when it comes to canning. You surely are courageous and endearing ;).
I do too, this was my first attempt very happy 2 jars took and I know my mistake. Thank you so much.
Oh gosh, I guess I missed the guest post over the holiday weekend. I just checked it out. Wow, this looks incredibly delcious! I absolutely love your ginger addition. Seriously, I don’t think there are many things better than ginger. Have you ever tried crystalized ginger chocolate bars? OMG. Seriously, one of the yummiest things I’ve ever eaten. It has given me an idea of creating a dessert using those 2 ingredients. SO good. Your jam looks just perfect.
I have never tried chocolate ginger candy bars but really want to. Sounds really good, I love ginger, love the way it can go either sweet or savory. Love the spicy bite, it’s so good. Thanks so much Brandi.
Love homemade jams! I cooked apricot+lavanda+vanilla jam, was yummy too 🙂
Oh that sounds delicious, I have to try that. There is an abundance of peaches and apricots at the farmers market.
Looks delicious and loved your combo…
Thank you so much Chitra!
How pretty is that jam!!!!!!! I don’t have the right equipment either, but have been known to take a stab at canning jams and jellies.Tons of work, but the rewards are well worth it. Very cool that you have an excuse to buy new kitchen toys 😀
It’s pretty and so much fun. I will be getting one of those things you put the jars on and put in the pot and some rubber tipped tongs. Love kitchen toys. I really love preserving and canning once I get over my fear of failure. Thanks so much Liz.
That looks delicious! Love the addition of ginger. 🙂
Thank you the ginger is wonderful with the peaches and apricots.
Making jam is totally fun! I love the flavors you put together too 🙂
It really is, I love doing it especially when the jam turns out so well. It’s a learning process for me and I am enjoying it. Thanks Susan.
I’m not brave enough to try canning, Suzanne! I cheat by making small batches of fruit preserves instead. We go through it quickly enough and it only takes 15 minutes to put together. 😀
Thats exactly what I do, refrigerator jam. I believe I have two good jars but it’s still going in the fridge because I don’t have the confidence that what I did was right. Pretty bad huh! What I did today is a very small batch, 3 really small jars. Thanks Patty!
I have never tried jam but I am inspired 😛
I love me some jam all day everyday!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
You said it, love me some jam every day too! Thanks!
Awesome energy, y’all! The ginger is great here. Peaches and apricots also marry wonderfully with almond extract!! http://em-i-lis.com/wordpress/recipes-new-format/jams-chutneys-and-other-canned-treats/apricot-peach-almond-jam/
Like Suzanne, i never peel my apricots either! You needn’t bother unless you really want an incredibly smooth puree of a jam!
Weck jars are properly sealed if, when removing the metal clips, you cannot budge the glass lid. Also, the “tongue” of the rubber gasket should be pointing down. Not all the way but noticeably south!
Cheers! 🙂
S, love that towel! 😉
Oh thanks Emily, yes almond extract would be wonderful too! I looked it up online and saw about the tongue hanging down, it did on two of the jars the 3rd not so much so I did that test where you lift by the lid and sure enough it came right off. Oh well, 2 are good and the other is in the fridge and will be used quickly enough. Thanks so much for your expert advise. I love that towel too!! Thank you.
So pleased you’ve caught the jam making bug! And isn’t it easy. Not that I’ve made strawberry yet. They’ve been so late – and I’m even later. Although, I’m hoping to buy some jam making kit this week. May have to play with them over the weekend!
Love making jam, it’s so much better than what you get commercially prepared and you can control the sweetness. I feel left out having missed strawberries this year. Hoping sometime soon to see other berries at the market. I am going to purchase some canning paraphernalia this weekend and start putting up other things besides jam. Like tomatoes when they come in season. Thanks Johnny.
Peach and apple nice combo.. Like the idea of adding ginger. Having peach apple apricot that tempts me to try
You don’t taste the apple really it was for the pectin but the ginger was a really nice addition and goes so well with the peaches and apricots. Thank you so much.
Ya never tried adding ginger that was a nice addition
This is such a great combination of flavors 🙂
Thank you, Its really a nice combination.
I love home made jam but I have to confess it is many years since I attempted to make some! Yours looks lovely. 😉
Thank you, I make it every year but never actually doing the whole processing part of it. I do refrigerator jam, this was my first attempt and it was somewhat successful. I will try again.
Suzanne – wow those apricots/peaches / apples and ginger blended so well – this jam is gorgeous and sounds fabulous! I have tried making jam before and it has never looked like this! So – if I send you some Ball jars, you would send me a jar of this jam? 😉
I will totally send you a jar of jam, you don’t even have to send me ball jars. Seriously!
High 5 – This jam looks awesome. Canning is scary but once it works, it’s a life saver! We’ll soon enter the garden phase of canning! Lots of peppers and tomatoes… yum!
Thanks Pamela, it is scary, I have the jam in the fridge because even though I believe I did it right I still don’t trust that I did. Next time I am using ball jars think it’s more fool proof at least for me I would love to have the abundance of your beautiful garden to preserve. Lucky!
Looks delish 🙂 How long does it stay ?
Well if I did the processing part correctly and I think I did, it would last for years. Since it’s my first attempt and I am not altogether comfortable with the process yet I will use it much much sooner like within a month.
Stays for years.That’s awesome. Ofcourse something so delicious wouldn’t last long 🙂
Yes if it’s processed properly with a strong seal and you follow all the guidelines preserved food can last for years. It’s funny I trust food that others preserve but am very insecure about mine. I have vowed to master this.
That’s exciting Suzanne and sounds like you really had fun making this jam! The combination of flavours sounds lovely, particularly with the addition of ginger – yum! I’m still enjoying some apricot lavender jam that I made in the summer – it’s actually improved with age!
Apricot lavender sounds delicious, I can imagine that it would improve with age, the flavors meld and mingle. I do love jam, a nice hot biscuit or scone, butter and jam that is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Thanks so much Margot.
Oh Suzanne, this looks fabulous! I love…LOVE…peach jam and apricot jam…. and you put peaches and apricots together to make one jam! I admit to using Sure Jell all the time. I really need to try using an apple for pectin. This is so cool. Thank you so much for sharing! I’d like a big spoonful of this on some toast, like…right now. ❤ Awesome post!
Thank you so much. I know very little about making jam and learned the apple trick a while back. I bet sure gel is made from fruit pectin so it’s probably the same thing. I just ordered canning supplies today. Can’t wait to tackle this. Thanks so much Prudy!
Looks delicious! I have never tried making jam, printed your recipe and filed, maybe I will give your recipe a try! Love jam on my toast too! 🙂
I do too, and love homemade jam. It really is the best. I love the combination of the peaches and apricots here and the ginger gives it a bit of bite. Really delicious Thanks Michael.
That looks so good. I too have a fear of canning. I’m afraid I’ll kill myself, but this stuff is surprisingly resistant. I”m angry at myself because I just bought a red pepper jam for $9. I KNOW i could have made it myself and much much cheaper. Great flavor combos in this. I’ll have to try it.
I have a terrible fear of canning that I will kill myself or others God Forbid. I do love doing it though and will continue to hone my canning skills. I love making jam and yes it’s so much cheaper than buying it.
What a treat homemade jam is, and such a compliment to a piece of toast. Looks delicious!
It really is, nothing better than a piece of toast with homemade jam, the only thing that could top that is if the bread were homemade also. Thanks so much.
I agree re the toast and homemade jam — and apricot is wonderful! I would love to try this advanced twist. Or at least I’d love to sample it. 🙂
Thank you, I love making jam. The resulting jar of deliciousness is a great reward for the effort.
Your jam looks delicious, love the combination of fruits that you used. And those weck jars are so adorable.
Thanks Cheri the jam tastes really nice. I love the weck jars, they really are beautiful but I think I prefer the ball jars for canning. I didn’t get that rubber ring exactly right and the one jar didn’t process correctly, ball jars seem to be more fool proof.
Hey Suzanne– wow, you jumped in with both feet and made that jam right after her post!! It does look scrumptious– not you just need to make some biscuits!!! xoxo
Ha! Rhonda you’re funny I’ll get pillsbury!
P.S. Love the white plate in your top photo– is it pottery?
It’s ceramic, got it at Marshalls, love digging around there for good finds. Always come out with some pretty stuff.
I like it a lot– simple but rustic enough to look pottery-ish.
They really have some beautiful dishes at Marshalls, mix and match mostly but I like that, It does have that potteryish look, perfect imperfection. Thanks Rhonda.
I adore apricot jam, but have never tried peach and apricot together…of course it’s a no brainer; I’d scarf that down, too! Suzanne, I just use old jam jars and rinse them quickly with boiling water before pouring in the hot jam and put the lid on tightly as soon as humanly possible. They end up sealing on their own, I would say, 90% of the time. If one seal doesn’t “pop”, I just put that jar in the fridge and use that one first. I hate doing the whole boiling process, so I guess this is the lazy way (can’t believe I said that)! 😉 Let me know if you try it. CC
Christina that is exactly the way I did it. I always put every jar in the fridge because although there was a seal I wasn’t sure how strong it was because I didn’t boil it. That’s so funny that we both do exactly the same thing. Thank you, I live the combination of peach and apricot and ginger.
Oh that is funny! I thought with you using the big pot and tongs that you actually processed them! My aunt also does it this way, but then turns the jar upside down, which apparently helps them to seal. I’ve never done it (mostly because I don’t want to get the inside of the jar all full of jam) but I might try one jar once. Hopefully will get to make some more fig jam this summer as I’m down to my last tiny bit from last year. Love it on brie and crackers 🙂
This time I did a proper processing but the way I’ve done it for years is exactly as you described. I’ve also done the turn upside down thing it works.
NOW, I understand! Duh! You sound like a professional canner to me…you’ve done it every way! 🙂
I actually am terribly insecure never trusting I did it right. Until this last time I always re used jars and just let them seal themselves. It worked well but I decided to try doing the real processing with boiling water, it’s good slap and more secure I think.
I absolutely love the use of ginger in jams. The more the better! Sounds so fresh and summery.
Thank you, this jam tastes like the very essence of summer just like strawberry does to me. I love jam.
Very nice! I just learned to can last year myself. I love your jars. I have just been so negligent of all the blogs, I hope all is well with you…and the pugs…
I just bought a bunch of canning supplies from Ball can’t wait to get them but I need a class or tutorial or something. I am not very knowledgable and want to make sure I am doing it right. The pugs are doing ok, hanging in. Thank you so much.
Yum I love peach jam. Not a big fan of berry jam but peach and apricot are my favs! Looks so good.
Thanks so much, I am a jam fan, love the peach and apricot, it turned out really great. Emily’s recipe is perfect.