Suddenly Peaches Taste Good Again - Make Jam, Quick!

What happened to our peaches? They are so good this year. I am afraid to hope for more when I go shopping this week. Every year for the past 5 years I have bought and tried to can peaches yet again to fail. They were impossible to section, or ripen, or even eat. No peach juice running down your chin as you devour a sweet joyous mouthful, the memories of childhood flooding your mind. I am older as you know and much of my kitchen art is really the attempt to recreate a memory, a taste of youth or a meal from a trip in decades gone by.

Niagara is one of my favorite places to visit every year come late summer because of all the impossibly beautiful produce. Yes, also the scenery and the 7th wonder of the world, but the fruit and wine are the stars for me. I gave up after last year when I once again did not find the fruit any good for preserving, the wine is of course as good as ever.

So when I saw Ontario Peaches on sale at my local grocery I was hesitant to buy any, but did. I was shocked as I washed them and started by slicing them in half and when they opened with a twist, I was baffled and excited. Then I tasted one and I was so happy. A firm texture yet juicy and not too sweet: a perfect canning candidate.

So I managed to can a few jars. I have a link for you to a Bernardin recipe. I used sugar and regular pectin, otherwise, the recipe is the same:

https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/light-peach-jam-no-sugar-needed-pectin.htm?Lang=EN-US&

I hope you make some this year. It is a good year for fruit here in Ontario.

~ Hugs from Mum