Last week Luke bought some peaches from a co-worker's mom who was selling them as a fundraiser for her church. I had never had a Colorado peach before and let me tell you once you taste a Colorado peach you'll never want anything else. Four nights in a row of Breyer's vanilla ice cream and peaches - yum. :) Because we had so many peaches and we didn't want them to spoil in our warm house, I also made some jam. I really like the recipe I came up with so I'm going to share it with you! This recipe makes enough to fill eight half pint jelly jars.
5 1/3 cups peaches, peeled and chopped (approximately 8-10 peaches depending on the size)
5 cups sugar
6 Tbsp pectin
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
First, get a pot of water boiling because you'll need it to peel the peaches. While you have that heating up slice a small x into the bottom of each peach. Then, get a bowl of ice water ready. Using a slotted spoon, place the peaches into the boiling water for about 45 seconds and then transfer them to the bowl of ice water for about a minute. Peel, quarter and chop the peaches. I used my
Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor that my mom gave me for Christmas and it worked amazingly! Thanks Mom! All you have left to do now is transfer the chopped peaches to a stockpot and bring them to a boil with the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. You only have to boil them long enough for the juice and ingredients to mingle together, or if your peaches aren't chopped as small as you'd like you may want to boil them for about 15 minutes to help the fruit break down. Add the pectin last and boil for another 5 minutes. If you plan on canning the jam, it only takes about 10 minutes to process the half pint jars in your canning pot. If anyone give this recipe a try let me know!
P.S. don't worry, Kurt will get to enjoy some peaches too once he's a little older because I froze some in a
BÉABA multiportion freezer tray. :)