Apricot Jam and Canned Cherries

It's that time of year when we have a ridiculous amount of mouth-watering fruits available for amazing prices.  It's so hard to enjoy it all right away, and I know come November-ish I'm going to be wishing for some apricots, cherries, peaches, all those wonderful flavors. So I decided to try out some more canning and work on perfecting my skill so it becomes second nature and I can really crank out some great stuff to save for the fall and winter.

This round I was playing with apricots to make jam, and cherries to save for pies and cheesecake topping in the future. First up was the jam...

It came out looking absolutely to-die-for! The flavor is perfect, too! I was really happy with how well it went. I was surprised I didn't need to peel the skins off and you wouldn't know when eating the jam.  I admit, though, I put too much fruit in the batch based on how much pectin and sugar I was using. It's a little runny, but still great on toast.  I am also thinking it will taste amazing in some jam cookies, and as a filling in a layer cake or donut. I think next time I will puree it a little more.  I enjoy the fruit bits, but the fam; not so much.  It's all good! The flavor makes up for it all!

Next, I had the cherries. I pit over 4lbs of cherries, and my fingers were a reddish-brown for the next few days to prove it. I canned them using the Ball Blue Book recipe for cherries that will be used as a filling.  They have a little sugar added, but not much.  That way, when it's time to use them I simply drain, rinse, and add my own sugars, etc to the pie. Maybe I can try that for 4th of July tomorrow! I nice warm cherry pie for dessert would be wonderful!

I love experimenting, but I admit that it's even better when it goes well.  When I experiment with something that's a total flop, it's kind of a bummer and not motivating to try again.  These are two recipes I will definitely try again. I also recently canned mangoes and pineapple so I can try making some salsa with them in the future. I need to try it out and see how it goes. Hmm, what else is on sale right now... I'm ready to can it!