JUST JAMMIN'

 Today I made some of my favorite jam EVER!

It is apricot/pineapple and it is DeLiCioUs!

 First you take about 3.5 pounds of fresh apricots.  You want them to be very ripe, soft to the touch.  Almost too soft to eat is best.  All you do is wash them (no peeling involved), cut them open, remove the pit and cut into small pieces and put in a food chopper or food processor.  Chop until somewhat smooth but still with a few pulpy pieces.

Measure out 3 cups of pulp and put in a large pot.

Add one package MCP pectin to fruit, stirring to dissolve.

Add 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 4 lemons. 

(I already threw the lemons into the compost pile so I had to get my bottle of lemon juice out of the fridge for a picture.)

Stir in one 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice, undrained into apricot pulp.

I didn't have any crushed pineapple so I just poured the pineapple chunks into the food processor to crush.

Bring this mixture to a rolling boil over high heat.

Add 1/4 tsp. butter to fruit to help prevent too much foaming while the jam cooks.

Add eight cups of pre-measured sugar to cooking fruit and return to a boil, stirring constantly.

Once the jam is back to a full rolling boil, one that cannot be stirred down, start timing for four minutes. 

Stir constantly.

Once jam is removed from the heat pour immediately into sterilized canning jars.  Place on lids and caps and put in deep canning kettle, one with a rack so jars are not sitting directly on the bottom of the pan.  Cover completely with water, with at least 1-2 inches above the jar.

Cover kettle with lid and bring water to a boil, process for ten minutes

Remove filled jars to the counter covered with a kitchen towel to cool.

Delicious on homemade bread or waffles and pancakes.

Oh ya, there is a real messy part to canning.  The stove around the burner gets nasty looking.  I have found a great product that removes the ugly mess called Mr. Muscle.  You spray it on, leave for about ten minutes then wipe clean.