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Remember how I posted we went peach and raspberry picking. Well, I ripened the peaches a bit in a paper bag (Hazel was so excited to pick them, she didn't quite get them ripe) and we made jam today. I have to say I am still mad at myself for not bringing my camera to the farm. It took us literally ten minutes at most to pick a peck of peaches! She was so excited to be picking them. We also saw so many animals there and had such a good time, plus they had various play things for kids. Oh, well. Next time.
Today Hazel and I started making the jam. She washed the peaches. Then I sliced them and peeled them. Then she put them in the food processor and finely chopped them.
We needed 4.5 cups of finely chopped peaches for our pectin box. Then she helped me measure the three cups of sugar. Then you take a quarter cup out of the measured sugar and mix it with the pectin. She did this. Then she wanted to take her apron off and go play which was fine. I squeezed the lemon and started boiling the water in the pan I use as a canner (I don't have one).
Then I poured the boiling water over the lids and let it sit. Then it was time to start cooking the jam. I put the peaches in my large sauce pan and added the lemon juice and the pectin-sugar mix and heated this to a rolling boil (where the bubbles do not go away when stirred). Then you add the rest of the sugar and bring it back to a boil. Boil it for exactly one minute and then start ladling into the jars as quickly as you can.
Then you wipe the edges of the jars and cover them with the prepared lids and the screw tops. Then you put them in your pan of boiling water and make sure they are covered by a couple of inches of water (add more boiling water if necessary) and put the cover on and let them boil for ten minutes. Remove and wait for the tops to pop which means they are sealed. If any do not seal properly eat the jam within a week.
