Making Peach Jam

Spent the afternoon with my cousin Gay who was teaching me how to make peach jam. Of course, this is just a glance over on some of the techniques involved. Most of them can be found in cookbooks or on the insert of the “Sure Jell” package.
http://www.kraftbrands.com/surejell/home.aspx

First thing you have to do is get the jars and lids. You can’t used the seals more than once. After you’ve bought your tools the only thing you’ll have to purchase year after year are the seals.
For this recipe we mixed 4 1/2 lb. finely chopped peaches, 2 Tsp fresh lemon juice and 3 cups of sugar and one package of Sure Jell.

Start by boiling the water to sterilize the lids and jars. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
While you are doing that chop the peaches, transfer them to a pot and bring them to a boil.

Next add the Sure Jell and 1/4 cup of the sugar.
Then add the rest of the sugar, stir and cook.
Now add the peaches to the jars. You can get this funnel at the grocery store or discount store such as Walmart.

Make sure the lids are dry before topping the jar. Submerge the filled sterilized jars into a pot of boiling water to cover (about 1 inch).  Jams in pint size jars take 10 minutes and quart size jars take 15 minutes to process.  Carefully lift out with jar lifter and cool.

While the jam cools the lids will pop and that means they are sealed. Wait a week before enjoying your jam.
Jarred food will keep in the pantry for up to a year.
I was lucky enough to walk away with a jar of peach jam, mango and tomato chutney and Bread & Butter pickles.

Gay only started this last summer with the pickles and has become quite good at much more. This makes a wonderful Christmas gift so start now and make someone’s Christmas Merry.

Basil Simple Syrup

I discovered yet another way to store some of the basil in the garden. Basil Simple Syrup.
Take one cup of sugar to one cup of water and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.

Take off the stove and place a handful of washed basil into the pot.
Stir and cover until cool.
Put the syrup into a bowl and cover to refrigerate overnight.
The next morning strain the syrup into a jar or container to store for up to 3 weeks in your fridge or make ice cubes to store in the freezer.
You can make ice tea or lemonade with this but you can also marinate strawberries and make an ice cream topping - which I did and it tasted delicious!

It also makes the most wonderful cocktails.
This Cosmopolitan recipe from Sarah Begley of The Miscellany News caught my eye.
Basil Cosmo- 2 shots vodka- 1 shot basil-infused syrup - Cranberry juice to taste
Combine vodka, basil-infused syrup, cranberry juice and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain.

Kelly and Tanya were my official Cosmo testers this evening. They both thought it was yummy. Kelly thought a squeeze of lime would be good so I'll try that next time.
Enjoy and Cheers!

Pizza Butter

So I’m here trying to figure out how to make flavored butter. I thought I’d make some tomato butter since I have so many tomatoes.

I start out by putting some butter (yes, the real stuff) out to soften. Now I’m thinking I’ll stew some cherry tomatoes, pull the skin off and cool it down before adding some basil. That sounds good. So here I go.
I put the cherry tomatoes into a sauce pan and start cooking them without water. As they pop open I removed the skin with tongs. Soon all I have is the juicy insides. I cook that until most of the juice is steamed out. Then I get a brilliant idea. I added some cheese to the tomatoes (Parmigiano-Reggiano) and blend them together. I’m now making pizza butter.

Next I finally chopped about 6 leaves of fresh basil, some fresh oregano and minced garlic to mix with the butter.
Getting excited? I am.

I spread my “Pizza Butter” on thick slices of bread and fry it. Next I added some tomatoes and basil from my garden. Lastly I decided to add some mozzarella. This tasted so good. I got just a hint of all the flavors and the fresh stuff on top made it oh so yummy.

Then I had a thought. What if I added some “Pizza Butter” to pasta. Yep, just as tasty.
I had to think of a creative way to store my new invention. I decided to make a sandwich bag into a pastry bag by filling it with butter and cutting one corner off. I dolloped the butter onto parchment paper and put the tray in the freezer. Once frozen I can store them in a container and only take out the amount I want to use.

I used salted butter so I didn't have to add any extra salt. This was really fun. Maybe next time I'll make some cinnamon honey butter. Then I'll have to make some pancakes.