Millions of Peaches ...

... peaches for me (and C.B.). Millions of peaches ... peaches for free (sort of).


May this prove, once and for all, that peaches do not come from a can. They come from Southern Illinois.

And they are heavenly. Divine. Out of this world.

The most wonderful juicy orbs of fruit you'll ever eat.

Which is good, when an entire box of them appears on your countertop one day.

Canning: Peach Jam

I don't think I can call myself the Queen of Canning, since before this weekend I had never canned a thing before.

But I do think I will give myself the title of Canning Lady in Waiting.

That's because I went from zero to 12 jars of preserved food in a short weekend that was also filled with pie-in-a-jar making and thesisizing.

I started out my canning exploits with a countertop of peaches I purchased at the downtown farmer's market in Springfield. For some reason, those peaches gave me the urge to make some jam.

So I found a terrific recipe (read: easy!) for just that.

And so I started heating my jars


and my lids.


Then I took my peaches and removed their skins and cut them up.

I mashed the peaches


and partnered them with sugar and lemon juice and let them do their thing on the stovetop.


Then, when the peaches were ready, I filled the heated jars with the jam.


Next I proceeded to follow the canning steps required to finish the process, including working out the air bubbles (full disclosure: I may have forgotten to do this with a few, oops!) and wiping the rims and putting on the lids.

And then the happy little jars were processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.


Now they are ready to eat. I have decided to call them Jams by Julie and, if the spills I cleaned up off the countertop are any indication, I think they're pretty darn good.

Who's ready to try some?

(As for the other canning I did over the weekend ... you'll just have to wait for the next posts to learn about what went into them. Come on, I know you live for the suspense.)