7 quarts of prepped tomatoes did 5 quart jars; I had to do a 2nd batch of 2.5 quarts of tomatoes for the other two jars, only to realize I can only fit 6 quarts plus 1 skinny one in the basket, not a full 7 quarts! Dammit! This is important for bottling tomatoes because I used up all my skinny jars the day before making pasta sauce … remember this for next year Brooke!

• 5 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes (about 13 medium)
•  2½ cups chopped seeded green bell peppers (about 2 large)
•  2½ cups chopped onions (about 3 to 4 medium)
•  1¼ cups chopped seeded hot chili peppers
•  ¾ cup cider vinegar
•  1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
•  1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro (I have to omit this due to allergies)
•  1½ tsp salt
•  ½ tsp hot pepper sauce (optional)

I used fresh jalapeños from the same family on Evan’s that sell tomatoes (8 in a half pint box for $1), but just as good are hot banana, Hungarian wax, serrano peppers are all equally delicious and spicy.

In lieu of hot sauce, I added in ½ tsp each: white pepper, cracked pepper and cumin for a little extra flavour. Smells delicious!

Directions:

1. COMBINE tomatoes, green peppers, onions, chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, salt and hot pepper sauce (if using) in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
2. LADLE hot salsa into hot jars, leaving ½” headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot salsa. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
3. PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

In one of your biggest/deepest pots, combine the following:

• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 cups strawberries (sliced)
• 2 cups raspberries
• 4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Crush some of the berries with a potato masher, add the rest of them, along with the sugar and lemon (and maybe some curls of rind in a cheesecloth bag, if you like the lemon flavour). Don’t let this stand, it will be very runny on it’s own.

Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and stir frequently for the next 20 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure that it doesn’t stick and burn or boil over (very hard to clean up, don’t do that).

Remove from heat, do the test to check for doneness. When it’s ready, skim the foam off the top and use a ladle and a funnel to fill your sterilized jars, leaving about ½ inch headspace between the top of the jam and the top of the jar. Process in a boiling water bath for another 10 minutes, take them out and let them cool on a rack.

You will know that they have sealed when you hear the glorious sound of the “ping” of a vacuum being created (the lid gets a nice indent and won’t flex). Check them again the next day to test the seal.

If any haven’t sealed properly, put them in the fridge and use those ones first. The rest can be stored in a cool, dark place and eaten within the next year.

Author’s note: i’ve made all kinds of jam this way, and they’ve all worked out pretty well. the only exception is the no-pectin strawberry jam recipe – this sucker takes forever to gel properly and i usually give up in frustration and label it “dessert sauce” instead.

strawberry jam, strawberry/rhubarb jam, strawberry/raspberry jam, and raspberry jam. i’d rather make a huge mess and get it over with, all at once.

I didn’t make plain raspberry jam, but added to her list with rhubarb marmalade, rhubarb with lavender-honey, and yellow tomato chutney. This is her no-pectin strawberry raspberry jam that I tried:

• 4 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen whole berries; don’t defrost first because they collapse in size)
• 4 cups (1 quart or 2 pints) fresh strawberries
• 6 cups sugar
• ½ cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed gives you 2-3 Tbs per lemon)

Note: The original recipe made the equivalent of 13 x 250 mL (8 oz) jars of jam but I didn’t have that many berries. This recipe has been halved and I yielded 6½ half pint jars.

Sterilize your jars in a boiling water bath beforehand (10 minutes at a rolling boil), soften your snap lids (warm water to soften the rubber seal, don’t boil), inspect your rings for rust/dents from previous use. Pitch the crappy ones - they are cheap to replace, and don’t reuse snap lids. You can buy them at the $1 store (12 in a pack)!

Combine the fruit and  sugar in a tall stainless steel pot - this recipe will sputter because the berries have a lot of liquid and it burns when it lands on your arms. Let stand for at least an hour (or overnight) to draw out the juices. Add lemon juice (you can also add some curls of lemon zest in a cheesecloth bag for extra flavour) and bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring consistently. You want a rolling (not roiling) boil maintained without overflowing the pot. Keep this going for 20-25 minutes to start, remove from heat and test to see if has set.

I love these methods to test for set (I have listed them verbatim from Gardenopolis). I had only heard of the freezer plate, but much prefer the sheet method for my first test.

1. Cold plate: stick a small plate in the freezer to chill. Ladle a small spoonful of jam on the plate and wait a few minutes. Has it gelled to a jam-like consistency? No? Keep cooking. Not sure? Keep cooking. Nothing sucks more than having to unseal jam jars the next day and re-cook your jam (believe me, i know).
2. Sheet: take a cold metal spoon and scoop up some jam-in-progress. Count to 20 and slowly tilt it. Does the jam run off in one big stream? Keep cooking. Does it ooze in several drops at a time, that slowly join into a sheet drop? It’s done.
3. Eyeball: i’ve noticed that the consistency of long-slow-cook jam changes after about 20-25 minutes. The bubbles get stickier and glassier looking – similar to what you see if you’ve ever made caramel. The jam thickens up as you cook it down and you notice a difference in the texture as you stir.

Ladle jam into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace between the jam and the rim of the jar. Wipe the rim, seal the jars and process back in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (keep them upright). Cool at room temperature and check the seal after 24 hours. It really is that easy.

I find these recipes are much darker than the boxed-pectin method, probably from the cooked sugar, and it has a strong flavour from the lemon, but I think I’ll continue trying this type of method. I find that the processed method, with only a 1-minutes boil is sweeter as well.

An on-campus farmer’s market will debut at McMaster today. Depending on the growing season, the market will run each Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until mid October. Farm produce will be delivered to the oval in front of University Hall where McMaster students will operate the stands.

Local farms participating are Simpler Thyme in Flamborough, Two Century Farm in Grimsby, and Busy Liz’s Farm Shop in Campbellville. Recipes will be available, as will information on the importance of supporting locally-grown food.

Volunteers to help run the stand are welcome. Those interested can contact the Farmstand Director at farmstand@msu.mcmaster.ca or visit the McMaster Daily News for more information about the project »

This artisan cherry jam uses a volume ratio to determine how much sugar should be added. It’s been adapted from David Lebovitz’s blog »

1. Buy as many cherries as you feel like pitting (or picking, as the case may be). I actually bought some dark Bing cherries for my sister’s shower and mom had some in fridge that were fading, so that’s what I used to test this recipe. He reckons, one pound of cherries will make one good-sized jar of jam, which makes sense since 1kg . I forgot to measure these ones first

Sadly, the pits were way to large for Mom’s cherry pitter, so I had to cut them out by hand. I washed and stemmed them first, then chopped them up (after sharpening my knife because they are round and slippery and you can’t distinguish blood from cherry juice, seriously).

2.  Cook the cherries in a large non-reactive (i.e. stainless steel) stockpot. It should be pretty big since the juices bubble up. Add the zest and juice of one or two fresh lemons (I only had concentrate so I put in 2 Tbs, which is about ¾ of a real lemon and I didn’t have a lot of cherries, so it seemed appropriate). As I have learned, lemon juice adds pectin to help it gel.

4. Cook the cherries over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they’re wilted and completely soft, which may take 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Once they’re cooked, measure out how many cherries you have (including the juice.) Use 3/4 of the amount of sugar. For example if you have 4 cups of cooked cherry matter, add 3 cups of sugar. It may seem like a lot, but that amount of sugar is necessary to keep the jam from spoilage. I had 1½ cups of cherries and used about 1 cup and half ¼ cup of sugar.

6. Stir the sugar and the cherries in the pot and cook over moderate-to-high heat. The best jam is cooked quickly and this took about 5 minutes to set, which surprised me! Remain vigilant and stir the fruit often, scraping the bottom so the fruit doesn’t burn.

7. Once the bubbles subside and the jam appears a bit thick and looks like it is beginning to gel, remove from heat and test it (by freezer plate or drip method). If not, cook it some more, turn off the heat, and test it again.

If you overcook your jam, the sugar will caramelize and it won’t taste good and there’s nothing you can do. Better to undercook it, test it, then cook it some more.

David Lebovitz suggests at this point you stir in a bit of kirsch, clear cherry eau-de-vie, or a few drops of almond extract, but not too much, or it will taste like a cheap Italian cake.

8. Ladle the warm jam into clean jars and cover. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath OR if you can’t help yourself from eating it all at once, cool at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator where it will keep for several months.

This batch is for me!

• 1 kg sour cherries, pitted
• 800g sugar
• juice of 2 lemons (for pectin: turn lemon skins inside out and pull out all the membranes and pop with the seeds into a little muslin or cheesecloth bag, and reserve till the next day)
• sterilized jars and lids to make 3½ cups

You’ll need to allow two days for this recipe, but the overall time is not much at all. To begin gently mix the cherries, lemon juice and sugar and allow to sit overnight in a ceramic or glass bowl. The next day place a small plate in the freezer to chill - we’ll use this later to test for the jam’s setting point.

Strain the juice into a large saucepan. Place the muslin bag into this saucepan too. Bring the syrup to the boil and boil for about 20 minutes.

Add the drained fruit and return to the boil, stirring from time to time. After 15 minutes, remove from heat to do your first test. Take your chilled plate from the freezer and pour about a teaspoon-full of the jam onto it. Return the plate to the freezer for a couple of minutes, then push against the side of the little puddle with your finger. It’s probably not ready yet, but will need to be checked every five minutes or so… when wrinkles form across the puddle the jam is ready.

Once it’s done pull out the muslin bag and squeeze to release juices and the pectin that will have formed from the lemon membranes. Let the jam sit for 10 minutes or so for the fruit to settle. Pour into sterilised jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

I think I let the sugar carmelize (i.e. burn) on the first round - it is a very dark colour. Still, I got a good round from it. I made it a again with the remaining cherries. This time I let it sit all day in the fridge, but the sugar clumped so I couldn’t strain off the juices and had to modify the method slightly:

• 825g pitted cherries (~6½ cups)
• 660g sugar (~3½ cups; this is 80% volume of the cherries)
• 1 full lemon, squeezed with the peel and seeds wraped; plus two Tbs concentrate

It made 3½ cups.

After letting it sit, I brought the whole mixture to a roiling boil, stirring constantly. I held that for 15 minutes, then removed it from the heat to do the drop test (take a cold metal spoon and scoop up some jam-in-progress. Count to 20 and slowly tilt it. Does the jam run off in one big stream? Keep cooking. Does it ooze in several drops at a time, that slowly join into a sheet drop? It’s done. Taken from Gardenopolis »). I tested again every 5 minutes and got it on the 3rd try. Note to self for next time: boil for 20 min, then test every two. I almost over cooked it!

This recipe is from Ball, the jar company. They say it makes about 5 (8 oz) half pints. Let’s hope so, they were very wrong last time!

You will need:

•  6 lb red bell peppers (about 14 medium)
•  1 lb Italian plum tomatoes (about 5 medium)
•  2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
•  1 small white onion
•  1/2 cup red wine vinegar
•  2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
•  1 Tbsp sugar
•  1 tsp salt

 5 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

• ROAST red peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onion under a broiler or on a grill at 425°F, turning to roast all sides, until tomatoes and peppers are blistered, blackened and softened and garlic and onion are blackened in spots. Remove from heat.
• PLACE pepper and tomatoes in paper bags, secure opening and let cool about 15 minutes. Allow garlic and onion to cool. Peel garlic and onion. Finely chop garlic. Set aside. Finely chop onion, measuring 1/4 cup. Set aside. Peel and seed peppers and tomatoes. Place peppers and tomatoes in a food processor or blender, working in batches, and process until smooth.
• COMBINE pepper and tomato puree, garlic, onion, vinegar, basil, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens and mounds on a spoon, about 20 minutes.
• LADLE hot spread into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
• PROCESS in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.