I have a friend who raves about this jam mix but I too am quite concerned with the safety of it, let alone the need for it to be included in a jam for flavoring. Just because the NCHFP approves the use of Jello in that one recipe, it still concerns me. I would rather just make straight fig jam with pectin and put in some strawberry pulp for the flavor balance, which is quite tasty, I must say. Jello is made from the hides,tendons,and bones of animals - well refined and resulting in base collagen but still an animal by-product. I am not a vegetarian but I would rather eat a pure fruit jam, thank you very much. And, since I sell jam at the farmers market, I would (according to my ethics) have to put it in the ingredients list as an animal by-product although the USDA does not describe it as such! Shoot! I have enough trouble explaining the lard in my pie crust. Eaten as part of the pie crust, lard is quite delicious, and nutritious, but to be canned with fruit to sit on a shelf or refrigerator doesn't appeal to me one bit. Besides, pressure canning meat is what I have been taught is the only acceptable method and you wouldn't PC a jam, so this is a NCHFP conundrum. On another note, since I bill my products as being fresh, naturally grown (no -cides), and as being free of artificial flavors and colors, Jello is not that, by far. Nancy

Hey--welcome to jamming! I think you'll find it very fun (I have so much fun with new recipes that I have more jam than fam can eat right now). Check out the discussion I linked below--it has a lot of the info you're curious about. As far as I can tell, the recipes look ok. It does seem like a lot of sugar for that amount of peaches and a no-sug pectin, but I'm not familiar with Ball brand, preferring Pomona's myself. My peach recipes are generally 1-1 1/2c per 4lbs peaches. And, I generally add liqueur to most all my jams too. There's also a more recent thread called confused about pectin that discusses some interesting things you might like. Here is a link that might be useful: Jam Discussion

Yup! Hey you asked for the figs on that thread, ya know. And should I hold you to your promise to send me something? Neah, I'm just teasing you. Enjoy, enjoy! I was terrified they weren't going to get to you - that Customs would have snagged them for themselves!

I was the "someone." I did make the cuccidati using the fig jam. I used the jam instead of the dried figs and the brandy in this recipe. I mixed the jam in with the rest of the filling ingredients. I would add more figs (maybe use 4 oz dried figs, and still replace the other 4 oz and the brandy with the jam). My cookies came out a little flat because my filling wasn't firm enough. They still look like winners once I glazed them and decorated with sprinkles. For comparison, here's Craftyrn's recipes: Posted by craftyrn (My Page) on Wed, Dec 13, 06 at 18:48 These are the ones I sent -- the original recipe is from somewhere on the web-- yrs ago started making them just at Christmas and they've become a real favorite. Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Christmas Cookies Cuccidati Recipe ================ Crust: 3/4 cup margarine 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs rind of 1 orange 4 teaspoons orange juice 3 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla Filling: 1 string of figs 8 ounces raisins 8 ounces brown sugar 1 pound walnuts 1 pound dates 1 orange 2 teaspoons cinnamon 2 ounces whiskey 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1-1/2 cups water Frosting: 3 cups powdered sugar 4 ounces butter orange juice . . Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crust: In large bowl, cream together first 3 ingredients. Add orange juice and orange rind. In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture along with vanilla. Filling: Prepare several days ahead of time. In a food grinder, grind figs and raisins. In large saucepan, simmer raisins and figs with brown sugar and water for 15 minutes. Grind walnuts, dates, and orange. Stir into hot mixture along with cinnamon, black pepper, and whiskey. Remove from stove, mix well, cover, and let mellow for 3 days. Note: This recipe makes enough filling for 2 batches of crust and can be divided and frozen for up to six months. Roll dough into 3" wide strips on pastry cloth. Lay filling down the center and wrap dough to form a long "sausage-like" cookie. Roll back and forth until crust seems very thin. Cut in diagonal about every 1 1/2 inches. Place on cookie sheet close together and bake for 10-13 minutes. Cookies should be barely brown. Cool and store in tins 5 days, then frost. Frosting: In medium bowl, mix together margarine and powdered sugar until well blended. Add enough juice to make a thick glaze. Top cookies with a thin coat. Let frosting dry a couple of hours then store in tins as follows. To Store: Line tins with foil, place a layer of cookies, then a layer of wax paper (NOT plastic wrap). Keep repeating, ending with foil and then the lid. * my notes: I usually just dust with confectioners sugar tho the frosted ones are good too. I always end up with extra filling even tho I make 2 batches of dough. The extra filling I use in Thumbprint cookies. Can be frozen . It's also good mixed with cream cheese as a spread for bagels or English muffins or as a basis for Sugar Plums. Here's the recipe I used: Cuccidati FILLING 8 oz. black figs 3.75 oz. raisins scant 2/3 C. honey 1/4 C. brandy 1.5 tsp orange zest 1 tsp lemon zest 1/4 tsp ground cloves, nutmeg 1 TB cinnamon 4 oz. almonds, roasted 3 oz. walnuts, roasted Coarsely chop nuts, remove from food processor. Combine the rest; when homogenous, add nuts. Let chill at least 8 hours. DOUGH 4 cups AP flour 1 C. + 2 TB sugar 1 TB baking powdr. 1 tsp salt 8 oz. butter, cut into small cubes 2 large eggs 1/2 C. whole milk 1.5 tsp vanilla 1.5 tsp lemon/orange zest Pulse to mix dry ingredients in f.p., then cut in butter until fine crumbles. Dump into bowl and stir in wet ingredients. Form dough into 2 rectangles; chill at least 8 hours. Roll one rectangle 13" x 10" and cut into 4 strips parallel to the 10" sides. Fill the center of each resulting 10" x 3/25" rectangle with a "worm" of filling, then flatten this somewhat. Wrap dough around filling a la Fig Newtons, flip so that seam side is down, cut into 1/2" slices. Cook 15-20 minutes in a 375 degree oven until golden brown; remove from sheets after 3 minutes to rack. Overcooked yields a less buttery flavor. Glaze with 1 cup 10x, 1.5 tsp vanilla, 1.5-2 TB brandy. In Italy these are often finished with colored sprinkles.