Red Plum Preserves

My husband went to the store to get milk, bread, and eggs.  He came home with two large bags with the mentioned groceries but he had also picked up two bags of large California Red Plums, 1.5 kilos each.  What am I going to do with those plums?



I cut some up, laid them out on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer.  They will be put in a bag when frozen and used in smoothie, if nothing else.

I also cut some up and packed them into jars, filled the jars with a sugar solution  (1 cup sugar, 4 cups water, or less, if you prefer), sealed the jars, and gave them a 15-minute water bath.

Before I got out of the kitchen, I made jams or preserves.  I cut up and pitted 2 and 1/2 lbs of the good tasting plums.  (This recipe may also be doubled.)

I put the diced plums into my large stockpot with one (1) cup of water and four (4) cups of sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolved, let it come to a boil, cut the heat down, and let it continue to boil/simmer for about 45 minutes or less.

To test for doneness or setting, I put a little of the jam onto a small cool plate and if it sort of settles, not running, the plum concoction is ready to be transferred into jars.

After the jam is put into jars, I seal them with hot wax, and put the tops on them when the wax has cooled.

Some canners feel more comfortable giving the jam a 15-minute water bath.  I don't have a canning pot so I use my stockpot.  I put a cloth on the bottom of the pot to keep the sealed jars from rattling and cover them with water well over an inch above the tops.

The jam turned out to be very good tasting although the yield was but a few jars.  By the way, the preserves also make nice gifts,.

This is the season . . .

Thank you for visiting my blog.