Day Five (5)...LOT, TMOT...10lbs in one day!! I'm plum tired!

Jamapolooza 2012...

Peach and Plum Goodness!

I lost 10lbs in one day!!!!  Okay, it was ten pounds of peaches and plums not body fat but a girl can always dream.  I was absolutely determined to get my jam done today before I was left with 4 pounds of peaches and 6 pounds of plums that I could do nothing with.  I even managed to finish one batch before 10 am and I was quite proud of myself.  I started the day making plum jam because I had never made it before, I would delve into the plum world (cue dramatic music).  I also wanted to be more focused because I think I get more loopy as the day goes on and I usually try to do only one batch a day but today I would do three, yes three I said!  Check out the plum below.  It was so good that I literally jumped up and down with pleasure and I think it just might take the place of Strawberry Banana which is my current favorite.  I'll let you know for sure as I continue to test my sample jar throughout the week.  Final tally...13 pint sized jars, 1 half pint jar and two tester jars. 

Plum Jam Recipe

 (1)Wash, pit and Chop, chop, chop up your plums. (2)Put in your blender and blend away. I like smooth with a few chunks in for "purrrrty" factor.  (3) Add 6 cups of processed plums in your pot, add a half cup of water (4) bring to a boil, cover and then turn down to low (5) simmer for 5 minutes.  (6) remove from pot and re-measure 6 cups (7)  return to pot, add 1/2 tsp of butter to reduce foaming (8) add your pectin, if using and stir.  (9) Turn on high heat and bring to a rolling boil (10) add 8, yes 8 cups of organic sugar and your spices, not to exceed 2 tbsps total spices.  I'm not revealing my spice combo because a girl just has to have some secrets but play around with whatever spices you like or just leave it plain.  (11)Bring to a rolling boil again and let boil for 1 minute but keep on stirring.  (12)Turn off heat, stir and remove foam, if you have any (I had none). Put in your jars, remove bubbles and put a whole cinnamon stick in the jar.  I guess I just revealed one of my spices, oops! Seal jars and proceed with water bath.  And if this is confusing, go to youtube and watch a video, it's how I got started.  Fyi...if not using pectin, boil until temp reaches 220 degrees and stir so it doesn't stick and burn!

 I had never had plum jam before and I have definitely been missing out!  This is seriously one of the most delicious jam I have ever had and if you have never jammed before, now is the time to start!!

 The final product. I got 5 pint sized jars from this and hubby said, "it made my taste buds do a cartwheel."

The second batch was a Spiced Peach and I actually was a rebel and left the skin on the peach because I removed the skin before on prior batches and it just didn't make sense to me.  Why waste?  It came out great and these peaches were much better than my previous batch.  Sweeter, darker in color, just more peachy.  Trader Joe's really hooked me up!

The final batch was Peach Plum Perfection.  I had some peach left over and some plum but not enough to make a separate batch of each so I combined the two and it worked out perfectly.  This time I peeled the peaches.  I guess I'm not the rebel that I lead you to believe I was.  Well, that's all folks. I'm tired but very happy with all the jams and I'm looking forward to experimenting with black plums next.  Now, what to do with that pineapple and those mangoes still staring at me.  To be continued...