Tweaking The Fig Freezer Jam Recipe. 9.27.18

Fig Freezer Jam.  9.27.18

I tweaked the fig freezer jam recipe a little, to make it a little less firm.  I meant to make it less sweet, too, but miscalculated.

This is 1/2 of the box recipe.  The box recipe makes too much for me.  Measuring out the contents of the pectin packet, I used the scale to portion out 1/2 of the packet.  That is a little more than 2 tablespoons.

This recipe used 6 cups of figs that I had rinsed, cut off the stems, and cut into half.  Most were Hardy Chicago but a few were LSU Tiger.


Fig Jam Recipe:

6 cups of fresh figs, cut off stems and cut in half.
1/4 cup lemon juice.
1 cup water.
1/2 packet of Sure Jel pectin for low or no sugar added recipes.
1 3/4 cups sugar.

Transfer the figs into food processor, along with the lemon juice.  Pulse to chop roughly.  I like having chunks of figs in my jam.  I had to process in 2 batches.

Transfer the chopped figs into large sauce pan.  Heat on low to medium heat with occasional stirring, to bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, make a slurry with the pectin in the water.  I poured in a little water, stirred thoroughly, the gradually added more of the water while stirring to keep it even.  Then in large bowl, microwave a minute, stir, microwave another minute, stir, to dissolve all of the pectin.

Pour the dissolved pectin into the hot fig mixture.  Stir, continue heating until it reaches a rolling boil.

Transfer into clean labeled pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top.  Add the cap, then let cool overnight.

These gelled very nicely, a little less firm than the last batch.  These are not sterile canned, so I store in the freezer until using, or for shorter time - a few weeks -  in the fridge.

I think the cooking helps break down the fig structure a little, but it's not cooking long enough to destroy nutrients and flavor.

Easy Apple Sauce from Fallen Apples, Using Slow Cooker. 9.27.18

 I'm not that big of an apple sauce fan.  Rarely eat it.  Looking for something to do with extra fallen apples of all varieties, I found some apple sauce recipes.  This could not be easier.

About 8 medium apples.
1 cup water
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon.

Peel the apples, cut into half.  Slice pieces of apple from the core.  Less than 1 inch thick will cook faster than thicker pieces.  I pour the water and lemon juice into the slow cooker, then as I slice apples, throw the apple slices into the lemon water.

When the cooker is fairly full, about 8 or 10 apples, depending on size and how much is lost from bruises or insect damage, sprinkle on the cinnamon and salt, stir to coat the slices with lemon water.  Cook on "High" setting for 3 or 4 hours, until apples are soft.  Use potato masher to mash the apple sauce.  This is very easy.  Pour into quart jar and allow to cool.  Better after refrigerating. 

I also portioned some into ziplock freezer bags, and froze for use later.

 By using fresh apples, no sugar added, and slow cooking, the flavor comes out excellent.

Sweet Corn. 9.27.18

These are from the last batch of sweet corn, planted in June.  Trinity.  I'm surprised to be eating fresh sweet corn from the kitchen garden in late Sept.  I think of it as a summer crop.  There are a few more ears to go.  Trinity is my favorite variety, it tolerates the cooler Spring here and produces until now.   Delicious bicolor sweet corn.

Daffodil Planting. 9.27.18

Bi-Mart had inexpensive packages of daffodils.  I planted these in rows.

I'm less enthusiastic about daffodils in the front borders.  They are messy far longer than they look nice.  Still, they start growing so early, they give me hope for Spring.  Then the flowers are so cheerful.

So this time, they are in rows at the ends of the vegetable garden.  I can still appreciate them.  When the dry off, I can dig them up and store to plant elsewhere, or leave them in place. 

Squash Harvest. 9.25.18

I harvested the squashes.  This is plenty for us.  The largest is "Pink Banana Squash" which I love for the flavor and amount produced.  The small pumpkins are "Winter Luxury Pumpkin".  The butternut squashes turned out small.  In my garden, they don't do as well.  The others were volunteers, likely crosses of summer squash or zucchini, with pumpkins.