Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Scrumping and vanilla peach jam...

I went scrumping the other day (scrumping - stealing fruit from someone else's trees. British.  Its considered less bad than, say, shoplifting, but adults still disapprove) and got some beautiful peaches.
I was actually given permission by the owner of the tree but it still felt like stealing as they weren't home at the time!
So yesterday, I washed them then soaked them in boiling water to make peeling their skins off easier.
That worked well.
I roughly cut them up, removing the stones (these were free stone peaches not cling stones)...
I ended up with 1.7kg of fruit.
By this time it was time for me to go to work so I sprinkled them with 200gms of sugar (all I had) and covered them in cling wrap ready for me to cook later.
.
When I got home last night, with more sugar, I put them into a large pot and added a further 1.3kgs sugar and a vanilla pod that I scraped the seeds out of and threw in.   Brought it to a good boil, skimmed off most of the scum that formed then let it simmer away until it had reduced down. I'm not sure really how long I cooked it for.
Once bottled, I turn them upside down - this ensured the seals pop when they have cooled.
Tah Dah!  Seven lovely jars of vanilla peach jam!
My pantry is filling up - I now have apricot, strawberry and peach jam, cucumber pickles and pickled beetroot in there.
We had a foggy morning here this morning - a good sign that autumn is on her way - hooray!
~
What else have you been bottling and preserving?  
I'd like to try making fresh salsa and some tomato sauce. Our Foodland had sauce tomatoes out the other day but I was busy over the weekend do I didn't get any. Hopefully sometime this week, they'll have more.
 Have a nice day,
Cheers - Joolz xx









4 comments:

  1. that loos so good and simple to make. Must try and remind myself in six months time when our peaches are ready!!!

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  2. Your jam sounds delicious! I can't wait until peaches are in season - I'm hoping to make peach ice cream this summer.

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  3. A fog!! Yes Autumn must be on its way - but it seems such a way off when we are going to be 40°C today.

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