The Joy of Giving

Over the recent holidays we were the recipient of any number of stocking-stuffer gifts; many of them edible. Cookies, brownies, candies, popcorn, a selection of fine English teas and much more.  Most interesting was a one-pound bag of dried, pitted plums.  Evidence of it being more blessed to give than receive?    

An interesting gift for sure and knowing I would need some time to figure-out how to incorporate them into our diet I placed them on a shelf in the pantry aside the nuts and other baking ingredients.  However, there was something about them that was different.  Sort of off.  I couldn't put my finger on it.  Time passed.

Then, while watching a movie comedy on a recent evening I had a Eureka Moment.  Fetching the bag I produced it for the Missus and asked if she noticed anything unusual?  Nope.  Anything odd?  Nope.  Anything missing?  Such as branding, like Del Monte, Sunkist, etcetera?

Yup.  That bag was devoid of any evidence of who produced and packaged it.  Prominent in the generic packaging was a missive extolling the nutritional virtues of dried, pitted plums, a government website and a big, honking, USDA Logo.  I'm no fool, I'm a tree farmer.  And just like any other farmer or rancher I know the USDA all day long.  

From all outward appearances we had come into possession of a one pound bag of genuine USDA surplus commodity dried pitted plums the likes of which find their way to school lunch kitchens, supplemental meal programs for seniors, children, qualifying families and food pantries.  

This was nowhere near as exotic as being on the receiving end of a twenty pound block of surplus commodity pasteurized process American cheese food product but since we don't share surplus food commodities with poor nations any longer my dried, pitted, plums were clearly unworthy of needlessly languishing in my pantry; or worse yet - a landfill.  

Ecstatic with solving the origin mystery of our bag of deep purple wrinkled fruits I was motivated to put them to good use.  So I asked ChatGPT what to make with precisely one pound of dried, pitted, plums.  Suggestions included all manner of cakes, tortes, braised meat dishes and more.  Looking for easy I replied in clarification with one word:  Jam.

I was going make some jam.  Fortunately, I had everything necessary in the pantry so I put my prunes (that is what they are after-all) to soak overnight and ran a full dishwasher at bedtime to wash and sanitize a half-dozen half-pint jars in preparation for an easy-peasy recipe for prune jam the following morning.

Here it is...

Prune Jam — Water-Bath Canning Instructions

Why this is safe

• Prunes are naturally acidic
• Added lemon juice ensures pH stays safely below 4.6
• Water-bath canning is appropriate (no pressure canner needed)

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried pitted plums (prunes)
• 2½–3 cups water
• 1½–2 cups sugar (do not reduce below 1½ for shelf stability)
• 2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice (important for acidity)
• Optional:
  
• 1 tsp vanilla or
• ½ tsp cinnamon or
• Orange zest

Equipment

• Water-bath canner or large deep pot with rack
• 4–5 half-pint jars (or 2–3 pint jars)
• New lids, bands
• Jar lifter, funnel, bubble remover

Step 1: Prepare Jars

1. Wash jars, lids, and bands.
2. Keep jars hot (simmering water or dishwasher).
3. Heat lids in warm (not boiling) water.

Step 2: Make the Jam

1. Soak prunes in water 8 hours or overnight (or simmer 20 minutes if short on time).
2. Transfer prunes and soaking liquid to a pot.
3. Simmer 20–30 minutes until very soft.
4. Blend smooth or chunky. (I used a stick blender for slightly chunky)
5. Add sugar and lemon juice.
6. Simmer 10–20 minutes, stirring often, until thick and glossy.
7. Optional spices go in during the last 5 minutes. (I chose vanilla)

Jam should mound on a spoon and wrinkle on a cold plate.

Step 3: Fill Jars

1. Ladle hot jam into hot jars.
2. Leave ¼ inch headspace.
3. Remove air bubbles.
4. Wipe rims clean.
5. Apply lids and bands finger-tight. 

Step 4: Water-Bath Process

1. Place jars on rack in canner.
2. Cover with 1–2 inches of boiling water.
3. Once water returns to a full boil, start timing:

 Processing Time

• Half-pints or pints:
  10 minutes (0–1,000 ft elevation)

Adjust for altitude:

• 1,001–3,000 ft → 15 minutes
• 3,001–6,000 ft → 20 minutes
• Above 6,000 ft → 25 minutes

(I processed five half-pint jars for 30 minutes)  

Step 5: Cool & Check Seals

1. Turn off heat, rest jars in water 5 minutes.
2. Remove jars; cool 12–24 hours undisturbed.
3. Check seals (lid should not flex).
4. Remove bands, wipe jars.

Storage

• Shelf-stable: 12–18 months
• Store cool, dark, dry
• Refrigerate after opening                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
  
                                                                                                                                          The yield was five half-pint jars and a sixth scant half pint that went into the fridge for immediate use.  My jam was definitely very prune-like with a satisfying sweet and tart finish.  The vanilla I added was a keeper.  Aside from putting this on a toasted English muffin this jam could also be used like a chutney with pork or poultry.  It would make a fine glaze on braised pork, duck, chicken or a baked ham.  A tablespoonful in a fruit smoothie would add sweetness and beneficial fiber; same for plain Greek yogurt.  If you're making your own BBQ sauce from scratch or simply want to amp-up a bottle of store-bought this is just the ticket to add some depth.                                                              
   
   
  The USDA leaves much to be criticized; nevertheless, the agency's food and nutritional programs serve to feed needful citizens and make use of the bounty of surplus food generated by America's efficiently-productive farm sector.  Someone got those prunes from a channel completely out of my league.  And they were thoughtful enough to gift those prunes. Perhaps prunes are evidence of largess and therefore a prized gift.  Perhaps they don't care for dried fruit or were stumped over how to utilize them.  I'll never know the answer to these questions.  Thankfully, they weren't pitched into the kitchen garbage. The virtue of frugality is not lost on me.  Just goes to show - never question the value of a gift.  Be grateful and put it to good use - Acts 20:35. 

Personal Kermis

Any of you who have paid a visit know that my raspberry patch is nothing to write home about.  It’s small, full of weeds and grass and survives only slightly above benign neglect.  Two varieties of raspberry varietals were planted 20 years ago - the types lost to memory.

Nevertheless, every spring I cut most of the dead canes and give it a good drench of Jung Seed Company ‘raspberry food’ from a watering can.

Summer production was steady; this fall it has been excellent.  This patch is an overachiever.

The birds obviously get first dibs but Doggo and I pick every couple of days or so - eating as we go. These are really good on vanilla ice cream.  Anything we cannot eat in short order is frozen. I think I’m up to 1.5 gallons of frozen berries. 

There is most definitely raspberry jam in our future.   Terrific stocking stuffers and hostess gifts.  Most importantly, a barter currency.

Raining today - double batch of homemade garden salsa is on deck….. 

Silver Lining From A Neglected Cloud

No pruning, weeding or fertilizing all of 2023.  We spent most of the year scratching our traveling itch.

 

Nevertheless, and despite the neglect, our forlorn raspberry patch produced a bumper crop of berries - most of which we froze. 

 

 

The rest we ate with breakfast cereal, vanilla ice cream or straight-up.  We learned the doggo loves them too.  The birds got their share when we weren't looking.

 

 

This weekend I converted all of the stash from the garage freezer into jam. 

 

 

21 half pint jars to be sure.

 

 

Lost the 22nd jar to a rare blowout in the canner. 

Tried it out on Sunday morning breakfast toast.  

 

Perfection!

In A Jam

Figuratively-speaking.

I finished-off the last of my imported Irish black currant jam today.

Fortunately I have been picking and freezing these red gems from our much-neglected tangle of something that used to resemble a proper raspberry patch.

There is homegrown, homemade, raspberry jam in my future....

Confiture de Framboise Rouge

It has been a good year for raspberries.  

The berry patch adjacent to the garden has been on the decline and is likely to be sentenced to death and removal next year.  On the other hand the opposite berry patch on the western edge of the yard has had a stellar year.  An altogether excellent result considering the benign neglect.

Composed of a mixture of ever-bearing and ordinary raspberry plants we enjoyed a steady yet small continuous harvest augmented with a bumper summer and autumn harvest.  

Fresh, homegrown berries are a real treat considering the exorbitant prices for fresh berries you'll find in the grocery.  Grown in Peru - or some other far-flung location - they are an improvement in our standard of dietary living but at $3.74 for a half-pint they are indeed a luxury.  Stepping outside to fetch a bowl of berries for breakfast oatmeal or yogurt, a dish of ice cream or nestled in a crepe is backyard homesteading at its finest. 

Those berries not picked and eaten immediately or scavenged by the birds were cleaned, flash-frozen and stored in the garage freezer.  Two big storage bags of them.  With berry picking over for the season I fetched half of the frozen berry bonanza - amounting to a heaping eight cups of fruit goodness.  

Homemade raspberry jam was on the agenda.

Ingredients

8 - Cups of fresh or frozen red raspberries

2 - T of lemon juice  

7 - Cups of cane sugar

1 - Pouch of SURE-JELL CERTO® Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin
 
A bunch of sterilized half-pint jars with matching lids and bands

Directions

Thaw the frozen berries in a large colander in your sink.   

Move them to a pot and slowly raise the heat on them.  As they begin to soften add the lemon juice and using a potato masher pulverize and smash them into a soupy mixture.

Add the sugar and raise the heat to high - stirring constantly.  Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.  Stir-in the liquid pectin and return to a rolling boil for one minute.  

Remove the pot from the heat and using a spoon remove any foam from the surface.

Ladle immediately into hot, sterilized jars leaving about a quarter inch of head space.  Wipe anything from the glass rim or threads, top with a lid and band and screw it down tight.  Move the filled jars to a canner and pasteurize in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.

Remove to cool and when the lids ‘pop’ your jars of jam are properly sealed.  If a lid springs-back refrigerate and use immediately.

Properly sealed jars can be stored in a cool dark place for a couple of years.  Although that would be a low probability event around here. 

This jam is pretty darn good stuff.  Remarkably, it is pleasingly tart considering all of the sugar in the recipe.  It’s also easy-enough for a kitchen novice to perform admirably.   

Yield is 10-12 half-pint jars.

Pro Tip - Liquid pectin is added after the ingredients are brought to a boil. 

 *A word about the jars and lids.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness.  Sterilize your jars by immersing them in boiling water or running them through the dishwasher on the 'sanitize' cycle.  Lids are easy - heat a Pyrex measuring cup of water to a boil in the microwave and drop the lids in the hot water to sanitize them.  Fish them out with a tongs.

Confiture de Framboise Rouge

click on the images for a closer look

It has been a good year for raspberries.  When dabbling-about in the yard or the garden it has been a simple pleasure to snack on a handful of fresh berries picked directly from the cane.  Berries on ice cream, berries on yogurt, berries in crepes and raspberry pastries.  At long last we made homemade jam from the homegrown red raspberries Jill has been cultivating.  It started with a bumper crop of berries that she has been hoarding in the beer fridge and I augmented it with frozen ones picked earlier.  
     
Ingredients

6 – Cups of fresh or frozen red raspberries

1 – Package of SURE-JELL Premium Fruit Pectin

7 – Cups of cane sugar

A bunch of sterilized half-pint jars with matching lids and bands

Begin by soaking your berries in cold tap water to rinse-off any debris or bugs.  Drain on a large cookie sheet lined with paper towels in the fridge.  Thaw any frozen berries.  In all we had slightly less than six packed cups of fresh and frozen berries.  Put your berries in a pot and using a potato masher pulverize and smash them into a soupy mixture.

Stir in one package of SURE-JELL Premium Fruit Pectin and bring to a rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.  Add the sugar to the fruit mixture and return to a rolling boil over high heat.  Boil exactly one minute while stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim-off any foam with a spoon.  





Ladle immediately into the prepared jars leaving about a quarter inch of headspace.  Wipe the jar rims and threads and add the lids and bands finger tight.  Process for 10-15 minutes in a boiling water bath in your canner. 

Remove to cool and when the lids ‘pop’ your jars of jam are properly sealed.  If a lid springs-back refrigerate and use immediately.

Properly sealed jars can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year or more.  Although that would be a low probability event around here.   This jam is pretty darn good stuff.  Remarkably, it is pleasingly tart considering all of the sugar in the recipe.  It’s also easy-enough for a kitchen novice to perform admirably.  Yield is 10 half-pint jars.

*A word about the jars and lids.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness.  Sterilize your jars by immersing them in boiling water or running them through the dishwasher on the 'sanitize' cycle.  Lids are easy - heat a Pyrex measuring cup of water to a boil in the microwave and drop the lids in the hot water to sanitize them.  Fish them out with a tongs.