Sunday, September 16, 2007

Plums-A-Plenty


Autumn annouced her presence by dropping the temperature to the 50s earlier last week. She breezed through the backyard, ignoring the cries of my warmth-loving vegetables as I hurried to harvest the last of this season's crops. Summer will soon be but another memory. Maybe there will be song about the summer of 07?

Time flew by once again, and summer is almost gone. The cold is a welcome change, and I know that about four months from now when the snow storms and blizzards hit my backyard, this temperature in the fifties will be a heat-wave for us. But at this moment, the fifties feel very cold compared to temperatures in the nineties last week.

This time of year also brings out the late harvest of peaches, corn, zuchinni, tomatoes, and an array of wonderful fruits and vegetables appear at the farmer's market and farm stands. This signals canning season, and I am itching to try my hands on jams, pickles and fruit canning this year. Funny how things like canning seemed trival before, but since having kids, I felt a need to try canning! Maybe something to do with the gatherer in me. The weather's cooler in the mornings and evenings, and the farmer's market are bustling with fruit stands this time of the year. All the fruits and vegetables look so good that I have a hard time picking out what fruit to bring home from the fruit stands.

Bought my first hot water canner, glass jars, and all the equipment needed for my jam-making experience. I am going mass production (10 half-pint jars) compared to my little recipes made in my breadmaker for 2 cups at a time and stored in the fridge. Oh yes, I am getting stored up for the winter! Actually, I'm making these up as gifts. So, if you are reading this and you get a jar, act surprised, ok?

Had a case of delicious sweet plums thinking that my kids would go for it. But not a chance! They didn't care of the tart-tasting skin, and wouldn't go near it unless I remove that thin pieces of sour skin for them. I should have known that my little munchkins prefer peaches than plums. As I quickly grew tired of the chore of peeling plum skins, I slice them up with a thin band of skin, thinking they might just eat the whole slice. This is what I ended up with.
So, I made jam with the rest of them plums. Yes! All 4 lbs of them plums.Long story short, after a couple of hours stirring at the stove and canning, I have these lovely jars of plum jelly. The long cooking and proper canning proceedure ensures that these plum jelly will keep well up to a year without refrigeration, but I don't think they will last that long.

23 comments:

Indonesia Eats said...

hmmm thank you for sharing...

Little Corner of Mine said...

Ugh, what if I'm reading this and I didn't get a jar, how should I act? LOL! Just pulling your leg here. :D

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Andaliman,
You're welcome!

Hey C,
LOL! I was gonna give you a jar yesterday, but couldn't make it to your picnic lah!

Nirmala said...

I love homemade jam. I've never had plum and it looks just delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Nirmala,
The plum jam was a nice variation from the usual fruit jam, and I love the color. I will post the recipe soon. :)

Anh said...

Yum! Love the look of your plum jam! I also made some marmalade over the weekend! :D

Anonymous said...

Looks really good.
I actually recycle all my old jars nice enough for storing jams. :P

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Anh,
Ah...it must be canning season!

Hi Judy,
Yes, my mother-in-law also told me that I can recycle the glass jars but have to buy new lids to ensure they seal properly for the next round.

KellytheCulinarian said...

I'm so sad summer is over, and quite abruptly so as well. Your dishes look so elegant, though.

daphne said...

yum! plums- so good... looks like u had a real busy few days with jamming and canning!

Big Boys Oven said...

We love to have a can of your plum jam.... can right?

Padma said...

Yes dear, I will act as surprised, If I receive them... +_+ jokes apart, you are one incredible girl jamming all those plums...hats off to your hard work thats all I can say..

Plum Jam is new to me and looks delicious

culinaryprincess said...

Looks good!I'm a big fan of plums.I'm patiently waiting for summer to come before i can enjoy them again :)

Peony said...

envy, envy with all those fresh jars of fruit jam.

hahah, love the way your 2 lovely princess eat their plums.

Ryan eats all fruits like these if I don't cut off the skin.

WokandSpoon said...

Wow - that's a lot of plum jam!
;-) Hope your kids like it!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Kelly,
Yes, summer's fading away (sob!)

Hi Daphne,
Yes I have! :)

Hi Big Boys Oven,
Sure Can! You picking it up, right? ;)

Hi Padma,
LOL! OK! It was fun, but next time, I'll have a girlfriend over to help. :)

Hi Culinary Princess,
Oooo! You get to enjoy spring next. Lucky girl!

Hi Peony,
If you live closer, I will send you some. :) Kids just don't like the skin of fruits uh? :)

Hi Wokandspoon,
Hehe! I only kept 2, and yes, my kids love jam on toast. :)

Anonymous said...

Send me a jar please? I'll helped you on that since you said they aren't goin to last that long in the fridge :D

Anonymous said...

Your comments ALL look great. I wouldn't change a thing and no need to worry. You do a FANTASTIC job. I'm so proud of you. LB

Nora B. said...

Homemade plum jam - how wonderful!

p/s: the photo of the skins of the plums was funny. Your kids are smart!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Tigerfish,
Why don't you come pick it up? ;)

Hi LB,
Thanks!

Hi Nora,
Thanks! You could tell that the kids were bored, uh? :)

Cris said...

Oh, I wish I were your neighbor, these look fantastic to me! :-)

Big Boys Oven said...

Aiyoh! how to pick them up....but can you DHL to us, not oone, maybe a couple of jars as it could be cheaper!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Cris,
Wish you are my neighbor too! :)

Hi Big Boys Oven,
Oh! So nice of you to be thinking of making it cheaper for me! Better if I fly over and sample your delicious bakes and cooking lah!