Canning...Canning...Canning...

With all the delicious fruits in season at this time of year, I recently became interested in canning. I asked a friend of mine (and canning expert) Sharon to show me how. She came over to my house one day with pots, funnels, tongs...all in tow. We put on our aprons and got to work! I had bought a flat of blackberries from a local farmer, so we made blackberry jam. It turned out great and was much easier to make than I thought. Sharon and I enjoyed our time together and I really appreciated her teaching me some of her expertise in this area. She even taught me how to "listen" for a lid sealing and if not sure, how to "tap" the lid to tell if it's sealed. After she left I made peach jam as well. We had stopped off at a fruit stand the day before and bought a box of peaches as we were heading up Interstate 5 on the way home from taking Alli down to college.

Here is the recipe:
6 cups blackberries
8 1/2 cups sugar
1 package powdered pectin

Put measured crushed berries in a pot. Add pectin and stir well. Place on high heat and stir constantly bringing quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Add sugar, continue stirring and heat again to a full bubbling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim. Fill and seal containers. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.