It’s been busy around here lately. Either something’s due for processing from the garden or yard, a friend calls with some “extra” produce or I run into something I just can’t pass up. Option three was the case with the peaches and apricots. A couple of weeks ago I finally had a chance to stop into Grassroots Grocery (read more about my excursion here), and they had a selection of local produce that included blueberries, apricots and peaches, among other things. I talked to the owner about buying some bulk quantities, and she said I could get back to her as late as Monday for her Tuesday order (this was Thursday). I was thinking peaches and blueberries, as I really enjoy blueberries mid-winter in baked goods and oatmeal, and I have fond memories from my childhood of my mom’s canned peaches. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to make the commitment to even more canning and freezing when I was already so busy, but I figured I would think about it. I grabbed a small container of apricots to munch on the road, along with a few other things, and headed on my way (errand day is always busy).
Those apricots were SO GOOD! Oh man – it was like an epiphany. THIS WAS THE WAY FRUIT WAS SUPPOSED TO TASTE! I’ve been dissatisfied with store bought apricots for years. They LOOK lovely. You bring them home, place them in a paper bag to ripen, and they turn into mealy, tasteless mush. Or they simply rot before they even ripen. These were sweet, juicy and absolutely loaded with flavor. They were not cosmetically perfect – several had minor surface blemishes – and they were a bit smaller than most apricots I’ve seen in the store. The flavor was simply outstanding. I have two trees in my yard that I hope will be producing in years to come, but this was a good reminder of why I planted them. I figured if the other fruit was half as good as the apricots, it was worth the time, money and effort to get in and preserve it. I made the call and ordered a case each of blueberries, apricots and peaches.
The blueberries were first. Rinsed, towel-dried like the peas, and spread on trays to freeze overnight before permanently frozen in vacuum seal bags.
The peaches and the apricots took a few days to ripen fully, but when they did they were lovely. Peaches – I haven’t had peaches that good since we had our own tree in the backyard of our last home. (We tried peach trees here but the wind and cold killed them off.) Absolutely delicious! Sweet, real “peach” flavor, firm, not mealy, texture, juice dripping down your chin – a good portion of the fruit was simply eaten fresh. The rest was canned, dehydrated and made into peach jam.
The “prettiest” peaches were cold-packed canned in a light syrup. I dipped them in boilign water for about thirty seconds, then they went into cold water until they were cool enough to handle. The boys peeled them and put them into lemon water (I have found about a quarter cup of lemon juice in a gallon of water will keep fruit from browning). I cut them into halves and quarters. (I started with halves, which look nicer, but you can pack more quarters into a jar.) I ran the jars through the dishwasher to get them clean and hot, warmed up the lids in a pan of water on the stove, got the water bath canner full and HOT, and mixed up a light syrup and brought it to a gentle simmer. Yes, I could pack in juice or honey, but sugar is cheap, available, and preserves the peach flavor well.
When everything was prepped, I started packing the peaches. Note – having everything ready before you start packing is a good idea, because the hotter you keep all your materials the better your results will be. Peaches into jars, enough syrup to cover, run a chop stick around the interior wall of the jar to let out air bubbles, wipe off rim, lid on, into the canner, repeat as necessary. Submerge jars, process for 30 minutes. My canner holds seven jars at once, so I had to do two runs of jars.
Some of the peaches got a little overripe, so these were perfect for jam. I used the basic Sure Jell recipe – I least I thought I did. It was getting late, I was getting tired, I used bulk pectin (those Sure Jell packages hold around 1/3 cup, BTW). (If you want to see the recipe in full – look here.) Here’s what the recipe said:
4 cups prepared fruit (about 3 lb. fully ripe peaches)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional)
5-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
Makes around 7 cups
What I read was “7 cups of sugar”. As soon as I dumped it in, I knew I had screwed up. The jam just looked “wrong” – too thick, too sugary. Oh cr*p! I’m not going to toss the mess, but I don’t want to eat it like that. I can save it – I know I can! I put a little more pectin in a bowl w/ some water and cook it up (another couple of tablespoons of pectin w/ twice as much water? – I am doing this “by guess and by gosh”). Two more cups of peach chunks go into the pot. The extra pectin goes in. I recook the whole thing to a boil for one minute. Success! The boys licked the pot clean and polished off a jar of that peachy goodness in a matter of days. I ended up with nine half-cup jars, but one just got eaten on not sealed. Here are the peaches and the jam.
Another shot of the jam the next morning, jars wiped off and ready to be moved into the basement pantry.
Finally, the last remaining peaches were sliced, dipped in lemon water and loaded into the dehydrator.
The resulting slices were much lighter and crispier than standard store dried peaches, but intensely sweet with a very strong peach flavor.
I tackled the apricots the next day. I decided to hot pack the apricots (heat them in the syrup before putting them in jars) because I noticed that the level of syrup in the peach jars was lower than it should be (hot packing is supposed to prevent this). Upside – hot packing did indeed keep fruit and syrup at the same level. Downside – fruit gets softer and less attractive (although still tasty). Also, After packing the “nice looking” apricots into jars, there was still a sort of “apricot slurry” in the bottom of the pot. I didn’t want to throw it out, so I canned that up, too, and christened it “apricot nectar”. I took the nectar and mixed it with four parts water and it was wonderful! I shared a jar with some friends last Saturday night and they renamed it the “Nectar of the the Gods”. It has a rich, velvety feelings in the mouth, not too sweet but very refreshing. A fitting end to a bountiful feast of fresh local fruit.
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