What is your recipe for Lemon Balm jelly? We have been using this one but always looking for others. Dave 1 c. lemon balm 3 c. water 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 6 1/2 c. sugar 1 bottle liquid pectin Drop of yellow food coloring Directions: Steep lemon balm in boiled water 10-20 minutes. Strain. Bring infusion and sugar to a rolling boil, add pectin and cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add coloring, jar and seal. Process 5 mins. in BWB.

Normally jelly recipes say 5 min. That is because they are more delicate and it could be possible to break the gel if you process longer. Jams are done at 10 min. most of the time. I just skip the boiling of the jars and process all types for the 10 min. I don't have any problem with doing that. Most people I know process for the 10 min. Any food needing 10 min. or longer just need clean, hot jars, not boiled for sterilization. If your recipe says use half pints, then use them. Most jams and jellies say half pints because using pints or larger can cause them to not gel due to not the same amount of heat to the insides of a jar that size. This is why you don't see quarts listed for jams. It would cause more failures of the gel because it would require a longer processing time.

I have yet to make the salsa, I just kept seeing it pop up in many of my searches and my interest is piqued. Glad there is an option for me and my available equipment. When I found the recipe somewhere on Garden Web, there was this at the end, "For BWB, increase the vinegar to 1 cup, no other changes. Process 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts." Good thing, too, because when I read "... add more vinegar, bottled lemon juice, or bottled lime juice" I just think, "Duh, how much is more?" (I'm one who wouldn't really mind the "dash" measuring spoon.) I'll probably do pints of salsa, if I do it at all this year. So you get to enjoy pickles, just in moderation? (I was so self/pickle-centered yesterday I didn't say anything about your comment about limited food choices. Sounds like a bummer that you make the best of. Great attitude!)

Hi Laurie, Welcome to the Cooking Forum. Your first name is the same as mine, same spelling too! I agree with Annie, jams and jellies are good to start with. Learn the low acid fruits and use acid adjusted/approved recipes for those. High acid fruits are more forgiving, the worst thing you'll get there is mold, which is what happens with lower sugar jams too. I hate the pectin jams, the sugar content ruins the flavor for me, so I've done quite a bit of experimenting with lower sugar jams. A good book I recommend (out of print but available thru used bookstores online) is "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman. She has a lot of great low sugar recipes in there she developed. Also, the Ball COMPLETE Book of Home Canning has a whole chapter on lower sugar jams. The reason for the sugar is it is needed to get a set with commercial pectin. Alternatives are a longer cooking jam which is thickened in the process, and also adding a chopped apple to some low pectin fruit jams, for the pectin since apples are high in pectin. Also making "old fashioned" preserves, in which you make a syrup from sugar and the juice from the fruit which macerates overnight. You then strain out the fruit, cook the syrup down and thicken that and add the fruit back in at the end. Kind of a pain to do, but tasty! Don't get discouraged, it takes a lot of experimenting until you find the ideal recipes you like. I made pear vanilla bean jam, and frankly, to me it was "meh." As was pear cardamom jam. But I liked vanilla bean marmelade, go figure. However, all of these recipes were easy peasy so you should get something enjoyable no matter what. Somewhere on Harvest, there's a "Best Of" recipe thread, but I'm not sure how to access it anymore. I printed it out a while back. Be forwarned, the Harvest Forum is not for the shrinking violets! But don't get discouraged by the pedantry. Folks there would much rather err on the side of safety when giving advice, and that is admirable at its heart. It just makes it a little confusing at times! Your best bet is to do what the folks here suggest, take the home course from the National Home Food Preservation Web site or just read up tons in books like the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning, or another one I like, (also out of print but available) called "Keeping the Harvest" by Nancy Chioffi and Gretchen Mead. Here's one of my favorite low sugar recipes that is perfect for this time of year. It's not a firm set jam, it's one you have to cook down to thicken. Also, can in small jars, as these low sugar jams mold faster than you might expect after opening, even in the fridge. This one has delicate flavor, so only make enough for this year, it doesn't keep well for two years like some high sugar jams. This is a recipe I found online. It was very, very good. I might add that I also added 1 TBLSP frangelico to the jam. It is not a firm set jam. Raspberry Peach Jam Recipe - Confettura di Lamponi e Pesche By Kyle Phillips, About.com When peaches are at their best and the raspberries are ripening up in the mountains, they're a perfect pair to set aside for the winter! What better way to do so than make raspberry peach jam? Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) peaches (ideally, white) 3/4 pound (300 g) raspberries 1 4/5 cup (800 g) sugar The juice of a lemon Preparation: Blanch the peaches for a second or two in boiling water, then chill them in cool water, peel them, quarter them, and discard the pits. Rinse the raspberries, discarding any that are blemished, and gently pat them dry. Interlayer the fruit and sugar in a bowl and let it all sit for 12 hours. Transfer everything to a heavy-bottomed pot, and bring it to a boil over a moderate flame, stirring it occasionally. Skim the froth off the surface and cook with a slotted spoon over a lively flame, skimming and stirring, for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. A drop placed on a cool slanted plate will flow some, but not much, when it's ready. The yield will be about 1 1/2 pints (1.5 l). Transfer the jam to jars, cover them, and boil them for 20 minutes to sterilize them. Yield: several jars raspberry peach jam. This assumes you know how to prepare jars for canning. Can add 1 TBLSP of Amaretto or Frangelico at the end. That's elegant and yum.