Using sound judgment to be more self-reliant.
We were once again blessed with an abundance of pears from the neighbors after helping them harvest their pear tree, so I decided to experiment with another pear jam combination. This time around we made blueberry pear jam, pairing up the sweetness of the pears with berries, lemon and a touch of vanilla. My husband still prefers the cranberry-pear jam, but my sons gave this combo a “thumbs up”.
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I tried plain pear jam several years ago and was underwhelmed. The taste was quite bland. This year I’ve been blessed with a bounty of pears from the neighbors again, so I went looking for some different recipes. First I took the most overripe pears and made up a batch of pear wine with candied ginger. Next I ran across a recipe for Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. (If you enjoy canning, I highly recommend this book. There are tons of great recipes!)
I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients (they used liquid pectin and apple juice), so I made some substitutions for the first batch. We loved the flavor profile of the traditional jam, but it was quite sweet. I made batch #2 with Pomona’s Pectin and less than half the sugar – much more fruit flavor. I’ll share both versions here so you can choose the one that you prefer….
Each year we buy a couple of cases of peaches from the local Knight’s of Columbus fundraiser. Some are eaten fresh, but quite a few are preserved for later. These low sugar peach jam recipes are an annual tradition. (We also enjoy Peach Raspberry Jam.)
We make up at least one batch of each peach jam – usually two. Peach jam is also a great way to use up peaches that are too soft and ripe to be canned on their own.
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Strawberry jam is often one of the first jam recipes that people make because it’s so easy. Strawberry jams, jellies and preserves are also the most popular fruit spreads by far in the U.S. In this post, I’ll share five strawberry jam recipes – classic strawberry jam with pectin, low sugar strawberry jam, strawberry banana jam, strawberry jam without purchased pectin, and honey sweetened strawberry jam. Plus – two more recipes on the site – strawberry-rhubarb jam and rhuberry spread. We also answer some common jam canning questions.
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When spoons were passed around with samples of this homemade low sugar raspberry jam from the bottom of the cooking pot, the collective response from the boys and husband was, “mmmmmmmmmm”. The quarter jar that didn’t make it in the canner soon disappeared, and a second jar never made it into the canning pantry. My youngest used to be a full sugar jam hound, but even he’s been won over to the fruit-loaded flavor of low sugar homemade jams….
