Friday, September 16, 2011

The "I hate it when fruit goes bad" Post. - Strawberry Cantelope Jam


I hate it when fruit goes bad. Hate it. Rob always wants fresh fruit, he talks about it, buys it at the store, puts it on my grocery list...and hardly ever eats it. So last night after I got home from work (last night at 4 a.m. this morning) I opened the refrigerator and there sat the cantelope bought a week ago..untouched. I knew there was 2 pounds of strawberries down in the other refrigerator as well.

Cantelope and Strawberries - together....hmmmmmmm?????

Jellies are hard up here. Jams are easier to make in altitude. Lets try this. I got up and sliced and diced and threw it all in a pan. Put 4 1/2 cups of sugar over it and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, a few peach pits and let it sit for an hour. Today during my hour break I did not have wine or lunch...I simply woke up and had coffee. 


Peach Pits? Why...well let me tell you. Peach Pits are naturally very high in Pectin. I don't like to use much pectin, so anywhere I can get it naturally I will. Just make sure you take them out before putting jams into jars. If you don't have peach pits just put a package of pectin in and bring it back to a rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes in altitude. 1 minute at a lower altitude. 

I let this cook down on medium heat for about 45 minutes and then used my immersion blender to finish it off leaving some chunks in it just because. Ladled it all into 7 half pint jars leaving 1/4 inch of head space...well except for the few spoonfuls I ate. Into a water bath the jars went for 25 minutes. And I have to say that it was DELICIOUS! Never had it, never thought of it, but oh yes I will be making another batch.



And the best part? My fruit did not get wasted.


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