Sure Becky, I hope I can share accurately, I am famous for improvising but here goes. I used two 16 oz bags of frozen unsweetened black cherries. I put them in quart canning jars covered with white brandy. I did this last Sept and let it mingle in a cool dark place till Christmas. I then drained the cherries and saved the brandy sweetening it to make liquor. I saved the cherries in the freezer. Last week when I wanted to make black cherry jam but could not afford fresh cherries I remembered I had the black ones in the freezer. So being the improviser I am, I took them out and boiled with 4 cups unsweetened black cherrie juice, bottled, that I found at the supermarket. I added 4 cups of sugar and 1 packet of pectin. I followed the jelly directions from the pectin package but it didnt set up. I then followed the "Re-setting" directions and added another packet of pectin. It thickened a little more but is still considered syrup or sauce. It thickened up nicely to use on vanilla ice cream which I tried the other evening with a cup of coffee, it was wonderful! The brandy really enhances the cherries and it will be great at the Holidays. Anything with brandy reminds me of Christmas time. That is the best I can give you for a "recipe", sorry. Hope you can adjust to suit your desired outcome. I love experiementing with cooking of all types and not to brag but I only remember about 3 times that I had to toss out my efforts. Usually I have good to great success. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out. If you secceed at making it jam consistency please tell me your secret. LOL Thanks, Susan in NC

We have discussed Blue Ribbon Preserves before and, in fact, I emailed the author about her instructions for canning curds. I really like her book, but I don't assume all her recipes are safe. I consider the book a valuable resource but I think you have to have a pretty good knowledge-base in food preservation to assess which recipes are OK as is and which should NOT be canned, but could be refrigerated or frozen. I'd recommend you ask about particular recipes from that book before you can them. Several of us have copies and should be able to give a "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" on specific recipes. And as mentioned, do forget about the pumpkin butter. It doesn't matter how much sugar it has. You could freeze it, however. Carol

willow, I think what you are going to get is going to be more like a fruit butter and less like chunks in syrup. I use a no-pectin recipe given to me by Readinglady, I think it was her late MIL's. At any rate it makes the best pear preserves I've ever had, bar none. I've reduced the sugar a bit successfully but if I were you I'd go with the full sugar proportions until you are familiar with the recipe and/or if you want to take that chance on compromising your jell. the notes and instructions are Carol's (Readinglady). Old Fashioned Pear Preserves from Carol (Readinglady) Yu can also make Pear Preserves if you want chunks of pear suspended in syrup. By weight use equal amounts of pears and sugar. You also need the juice and seeds of one lemon. I wouldn't go over about 4 pounds of fruit because it takes too long to cook larger amounts. This takes several days, but it's mainly waiting and the results are wonderful. Here's what you do: Day 1: Peel, core and cut firm-ripe pears into chunks or slices. Leave pieces large enough to retain character in preserves. Place pears in acidified water (Fruit Fresh or Ascorbic Acid). Rinse and drain pears. Place in large bowl and add sugar equal in weight to pears. Add juice of lemon and place pips (seeds) in small bag. It's messy but I also add any of the pulp that was reamed out. Add to bowl. Stir gently to distribute syrup and refrigerate overnight. Throughout evening stir occasionally to distribute sugar. (I usually don't do this more than once.) Day 2: Place macerated pears and sugar syrup with lemon seeds in bag in large pan. Bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes, skimming foam. Reduce temperature and continue to cook (about 20 minutes) until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears and syrup overnight. (This can be room temperature.) Cover pan with a cloth, not a lid (to prevent condensation). Day 3: Using a slotted spoon lift pears from syrup and place in a strainer. Collect any additional syrup in a bowl beneath the strainer. (I drained syrup left in pan into a bowl and washed the pan because the syrup was crystallized along the rim then I put the syrup back.) Bring syrup to a boil and cook to gel point stirring frequently. (Depending on how thick you want the syrup, this can be anywhere from 218-222.) You can also use the frozen plate test. The advantage is you get to thicken the syrup just the way you like without cooking the delicate pears to the point of disintegration. Return the pears to syrup and boil 1 minute to reheat them. Pull off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This allows fruit to equalize with the syrup so it doesn't float to the top of the jar.) Place preserves in sterilized jars and BWB 5 minutes or clean, hot jars and BWB 10 minutes. This recipe is my favorite jam recipe, ever, one of those "OMG, how did I miss out on this" preserves. It's one of the few preserves I make that I don't share, it's ALL MINE!!! Annie

Thank you, everyone! I forgot the second step of posting last night. This was my reply to Lindalou: No, it was not cold at all. Now I am hoping I don't get sick from what I already ate before I noticed the fridge problem. OR the swig of spoiled carrot juice that alerted me. Luckily there is very little immediately-perishable food in that fridge -- it is mostly seeds, lotions, produce, cheese, stuff like that. Oh, dang, the figs are probably moldy. >Some food borne illnesses can take weeks to incubate in your gut. Can you tell me more about these, so I know what to watch out for? Or just names and I can google :). -- After I went to bed, I remembered I had also eaten fish oil and clam juice out of there. Scary! I had some kind of histamine response last night -- burning pain all over-- which decreased some when I took a prescription dose anti-inflammatory. It's still with me now, though. The pain kept me awake most of the night. It's like what I get when I eat gluten, but without the other symptoms. But there was no gluten. My immune system just does not like something in that stew of microbial toxins I ingested with my meals yesterday :/. No barfing or other GI stuff though, which I guess is good. Today's project: Throw out, clean out, move frozen foods out, thaw fridge overnight and see if that cures it or if I need a new fridge.