That is the sound coming from my kitchen right now. I just made three batches of homemade jam. I did two batches of strawberry and one of plum. Our plum tree in the back yard went nuts this year so I was happy to have enough to make jam this year.
The strawberries here in CA are wonderful so I just had to use them for the jam.
Anyone else make homemade jam to use in cakes? To me there is nothing as good as fresh homemade jam! Yummy.
My mother drives me crazy with preserving...strawberries, apples, pears, figs, etc...I'm a grape jam person but she never makes grape 
I've only done one lemon filling for a round cake. My customers are basically yellow sheet cakes....no imagination
Have fun preserving 
I'm jealous too! I have an apple tree that has two measly apples on it and a plum tree that hasn't got a thing! They're both young trees but I'm impatient! 
At least my blueberry bushes are producing! Of course I keep eating them before I can get enough to do anything with them... 
Happy canning!
Our plum tree didn't give much of anything for the last three years. In fact we were going to pull it up if we didn't get any fruit this year. Guess the tree heard us talking and decided to pump out the plums like mad. 
Oh blueberries are so yummy. I would be eating them too before I had enough to can.
I just went outside to water and came in with another big batch of plums. I guess I better try the jam out to see if it's worth making more.
Sometimes I'm not in the mood to make jam so I get the fruit all washed and cut up then I measure it out and freeze it until I'm ready to make stuff.
I'm now out of frozen fresh fruit so I may make a run to our local fruit stand to stock up on some more strawberries and apricots so I will have some in the winter.
Everyone that comes over ends up taking jars of my stuff home so before I know it I don't have anything left.
If you have never tried to make jam I'm here to tell you it is SO easy! I always thought it was hard and never would give it a go until a friend came over and showed me how. Now I do it all the time. Makes me feel like Martha Stewart. 
Hey if you have a minute would you either post or p.m. your instructions? If it's that easy I'm tempted to try it. I guess the store-bought fruit would be better than nothin'! Ya don't see fruit stands in these parts. I do have a lemmon tree but it hasn't produced for a while now. That's about as fresh-fruit as it gets for us! I love it when we go visit the in-laws cause they have fresh fruit all over the place. It's wonderful!
Just last weekend a friend and I made 14 batches of strawberry freezer jam! And we still had 2 large bags of strawberries left over! We went a little overboard when we bought the berries! Three trips to the store later for more pectin, we had enough and called it a day. I've had toast and jam everyday so far 
Just last weekend a friend and I made 14 batches of strawberry freezer jam! And we still had 2 large bags of strawberries left over! We went a little overboard when we bought the berries! Three trips to the store later for more pectin, we had enough and called it a day. I've had toast and jam everyday so far
I'm so jealous!!! I really don't think I could ever get tired of it either! I'd probably run out of containers first!! It can be a pricey thing to start out. Although I did see that Ball has some plastic freezer jars that I thought would be handy....let's just say that I'm not known for my grace!
I've made 4 pints of low sugar apricot butter and 8 pints of low sugar apricot jam since the 4th. I would have made even more if the birds and squirrels hadn't tasted so many of my apricots.
My plum has nothing. My peach has maybe a half dozen fruit. My green grapes will flood us with grapes again this year. I wish they were good for jam, but they're not.
RedPanda
I would LOVE your recipe, if it's not a family secret! I tried making jam a few years back and it never really got jammy....it was more like a syrup. I haven't tried it since.
I would love some instructions on how to make homemade jam also!!! No fresh fruit here in Phoenix either; but every once in a while the local farmers market has a few decent picks. Would you mind p.m.ing me some instructions if you have time? I would loooovvvveee to try this!
Ohh gosh I love that pop, pop, pop sound!! My Mom just brought over a few jars of greenbeans & banana peppers, 4 bags of pinto beans & purple hull peas. YUMMY!! I can't wait till she puts up the jelly! We have so much fun in the kitchen canning. Plum jelly is my all time favorite! It's excellent on cakes or for filling. My Mom has a freezer full of blueberries. I keep forgetting to grab me some! Glad you reminded me! They are extra special in the winter when your just craving fresh fruit!
Do ya'll cook in a pressure cooker?? I've always been afraid of them so I never tried. LOL! I'm fixing to learn... getting me one tomorrow. My Mom cooks all her veggies, stews, meats in her's. They are delicious & tender. Hopefully I won't blow up the house! LOL!!
I've never tried the freezer jam. Now I think I will have to go buy more strawberries so I can. Sounds yummy.
Apricot is my favorite though.
For those of you who have never made jam just buy a box of the Certo Pectin and the directions are inside. Very easy. But more yummy then any jam you ever had before!
I've never made grape jelly before but you can make it from grape juice. I've done pomegranate jelly before and used the juice. It came out great.
For those who have tried to make jam/jelly and it didn't jell you will need to recook it again and add more sugar and pectin. That happened with my strawberries this time. A pain to redo but in the end well worth it. Or if you don't want to bother then just use it as a strawberry syrup or ice cream topping. You can tell everyone that's what you made and they will never know the difference.
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