Watermelon Jam

I saw this recipe on line and had to give it a try. 

My favorite fruit is Watermelon!  It's what makes the 90 degree days worth while in the summer, it's sweet, juicy and not really unhealthy.  So making jam that I can open up in the deep freeze of winter sounded like a perfect idea.

The recipe is included here:    http://blondiescakes.blogspot.com/2010/09/watermelon-jam.html

With most canning processes, it's just easier to put out a tried recipe since canning is more science than a lot of food we enjoy.  I used more watermelon than in this recipe and less sugar. 

And I didn't puree the fruit in advance. 

I used an immersion blender to smooth while cooking the fruit for a while to

save some time and mess.

The rest was the same process.

My $3.99 Watermelon made up much more jam than I expected.  This works out to about .75 per jar!

I'll have to let you know if it's a good as it looks when it sets up. 

Can't wait to spread a little on a biscuit!

Dairy Free Strawberry Sorbet

Friday the store had a sale on Strawberries, 2 Pints for $3.

I knew just what I wanted to make so I picked through the stacks

to find the best box and came home to wash and freeze them.

I picked over the berries, sliced them,

and then put half in the freezer for some sorbet.


The fruity tart Sorbet turned out just right as a fresh after dinner treat, or an anytime treat.


I had such a long work day today, I just wanted to get home tonight and try another serving...
But before I got back home to my Strawberry frozen treat............I did some exploring since the cooler air today made walking a breeze.........

Found lots of busy bugs making good use of the beautiful flowers in bloom all around this time of year..............














I bet you Mr. Bee would have loved to get into some of my Strawberry Sorbet!

A Berry Good Day!

Enjoy!

Cranberry Chutney w/Pumpkin Seeds

Cranberry Chutney with Pumpkin Bread

Spiced Pears

RED BARTLETT PEAR

ASIAN PEAR

WILLIAMS PEAR

Spiced Canned Pears 
Makes 7 Pint Jars
16 - 20 firm, but ripe pears ( I used a variety of Red Bartlett,    Asian, Bosc, and William's 4 of each)

BOSC PEAR

2 C. sugar
6-7 C. water
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. freshly grated nutmeg
3 whole star anise
7 pint jars
lids and rings
canning kettle
jar lifter
large ladle

Chocolate Raspberry Sauce

Chocolate Raspberry Sauce

This sauce also makes a wonderful gift.  The only problem I had was the smell was so incredible in the kitchen while it was boiling I hated to put it all into jars!
This recipe is slightly modified from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The yield is about 8 half-pint jars.

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
5 cups crushed raspberries ( I used frozen and let them boil off the water)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
7 cups sugar or Splenda

Combine the first 4 ingredients. Bring to boil over high heat. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil.

Canned Apple Pie Filling

Today's adventure was Apple Pie Filling.  This was a water bath canning.  First I washed about 3 dozen apples.  Different varieties to add to the flavors, some red delicious, granny smiths and golden delicious.  This was the first time I got to use the apple corer that Bob bought me about 10 years ago...............  It worked really well on the apples that were fresh and hard.  Had some trouble with it on some of the overly ripened softer red ones.  They just kind of broke apart as the spindle turned but overall it worked perfectly on most of them.  So, washed up a bunch of apples, cored them and dropped the slices into hot water with a lemon to keep the browning process down some.