This is the recipe I use minus the fruit fresh. Banana Jam 4 cups prepared fruit (about 11 fully ripe medium bananas) 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. EVER-FRESH or Fruit Fresh Fruit Protector (optional) 1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional) 6 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl MASH bananas thoroughly. Measure exactly 4 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Stir lemon juice and fruit protector into prepared fruit in saucepot. STIR pectin into fruit in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture 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. LADLE quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

From Baking 911 Each type of fat used in cookie recipes separately affects the cookie's texture and taste. Generally, the use of butter means a flatter, crispier cookies because it allows the dough to spread as it cooks on the hot cookie sheet. Cookies made with shortening will not spread, however all shortening will give you a cookie without a lot of taste. This approach gives you the best of both worlds: shortening is not as sensitive to shifts in temperature and the butter gives a lot of flavor. Shortening: Least spread / Least flavor, however can use butter flavored. Because of its higher melting point (98 to 100 degrees F) than butter, cookies keep their shape as it bakes, yielding a puffier more cake-like treat. Stick Butter: Medium spread / Best flavor. Because of the lower the melting point of butter (92 to 98 degrees F) than shortening, cookies spread and become flatter and crispier as the result. To help reduce cookie spread when using butter, freeze the formed dough on the cookie sheets. When you place the frozen cookie dough immediately in the oven, the fat will stay colder longer and when baked, the cookie will retain its shape better. For flavor, there is no substitute for butter. Cookies made with butter have outstanding taste and a finely grained, often crisp texture. Butter also helps cookies to keep well and maintain their flavor. I recommend using unsalted butter in baking. Stick Margarine: Most spread / Some flavor Vegetable oils: cookies are softer than those made with butter or margarine.

It's fine. I think because I added the sugar before I measured it out into the 8 cup amount, I maybe should have added a little more sugar? My peaches were very large and I had pretty much more than 8 cups. Maybe that is why you add the sugar later, because it's a measured amt of "butter" at that point? Anyway, Here it is along side one of Nancy's (also) peach preserves! How long does that last cooking stage usually take? Mine never really got to a point of holding shape in a spoon, but I had boiled it awhile, so I stopped. Thank you Nancy - I will have these for some special Christmas gifts, if I can keep myself out of them - lol. Stacy

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