I've begun canning. I know!!! I've bought a living social coupon for a canning seminar, but I don't have a Saturday free to take it until August. But, with such thing as the internet -I've already broken in my new canning pot, rubber gripper thingy, and the first two jars.
I made....CHERRY JAM!
Ok. So Cherries plus a few things. Because the conversion from the big jar of pectin versus the original small paper packets wasn't very clearly spelled out, and I wound up putting in 3x as much as I was supposed to. Which led to chopping up the rest of the cherries I had in the kitchen. Which led to chopping up another cup of strawberries to add. Which ended with using a few tablespoons of grape juice instead of apple - because I had it around the house and didn't want to go back to the store...
And once my cherries were properly mashed and gelled, bottled, cleaned, topped and ready to go - I discovered that my stewpots were too short for the jars. So, after another mad dash to Value Village (bought a pot that would 'do') and Goodwill (found an actual small batch bona fide canning pot, complete with accessories), I made it home to boil the heck out of them.
I tasted the jam last night. It is GOOD!
