hi all- this canning/preserve swap is going great-i've sent out my orange/cranberry sauce to 5 of you and am getting lots of preserves from you in the mail-its nice to get great homemade stuff in the mail-especially when theres no preservatives in them...susandonb-the cantelope/ginger preserve is excellent-never would have thought to put those 2 together-as well as the brandied black cherry sauce-such a nice treat-gardengrl-kathy-loved the peach salsa-my husband and i broke into that with tortilla chips and will be using the rest on a roast pork tonite- and robinkateb-just got your maple syrup and also the lemon/grapefruit marmalade-well try those this weekend for a great sunday breakfast---this has been so much fun-i look forward to getting the mail ---is anyone else interested in swapping??? i have lots more orange/cranberry sauce......... thanks cheri

Oh, that is so funny! Good thing the wise people of the Harvest Forum set you straight before you made some nasty, seedy jam! I myself do not enjoy the blackberry seeds, so I use my Roma tomato press to remove most of them. Makes the task a breeze! And then my favorite blackberry jam recipe is as follows: Wild Blackberry and Earl Grey Jam (Source: adapted from Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures and inspired by the Little Red Bike Cafe) 10 oz. boiling water 4 Earl Grey tea bags (I used Twinings) 3 pounds wild blackberries (cultivated ones would be good, too) 6 3/4 cups granulated sugar (you could go as low as 5 cups for a jam that is less sweet) zest and juice of one large lemon 1/2 teaspoon butter Bring water to a boil, then steep the tea bags for five minutes. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the tea bags and discard. Set brewed tea aside while you prepare the fruit. Pick over the blackberries. Rinse them quickly in cold water without soaking them. In a preserving pan, combine the blackberries, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Bring to a simmer. Pour into a ceramic bowl and stir in the tea. Cover the fruit with a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, if you like, run the fruit preparation through a Roma-type strainer before cooking it down. (I used the berry screen, and I ran the pulp through a couple of extra times to get out every drop of berry goodness before discarding the remaining leathery fibers and seeds. Of course, if you like the seeds in your jam...never mind.) Bring this preparation to a boil along with 1/2 teaspoon of butter, stirring gently. Continue cooking on high heat at a full, rolling boil for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Check the set on a cold plate (it's done when you push the jam and it wrinkles--mine took about 20 minutes). Put the jam into jars immediately, seal, and process for ten minutes in a boiling water bath. This makes about six half-pints. Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious (my food blog)

This very old recipe from my husband's grandmother...very tried and true. Soak 1 pound of dried apricots over night and then stew until partly done Add a large can of crushed pineapple and 3 or 4 cups of sugar. Add juice and grated rind of one lemon. Cook together until thick like jam, stir often. Pour into boiled glasses and seal with parrafin. Now..some notes from me! Cut up the apricots before soaking...use just enough water to cover the apricots, and 3 cups of sugar is lots. the predominate flavor in this jam is apricots. Linda C

Suzie, here's the recipe I use, it's pretty basic, has an inordinate amount of sugar and uses commerical pectin such as Sure Jell. I'm only assuming that you're canning it? Rhubarb Jam Makes 8 (1-cup) jars 4-1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped 1 cup water 6-1/2 cups sugar 1 box Sure-Jell 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine Few drops red food coloring (optional) Chop rhubarb finely; do not peel. Place in 4-qt. saucepan; add 1 cup water. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 2 minutes or until rhubarb is soft. Measure exactly 4-1/2 cups into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Stir pectin into prepared fruit in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in all sugar quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Stir in food coloring. Ladle quickly into prepared jars leaving 1/8 inch headspace. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes for half pints.