Try adding candied ginger :-)

I LOVE fig jam and preserves! I make a Rosemary Port Fig Preserves that is wonderful!

Check out my recipe on my blog: Rosemary Port Fig Preserves recipe

I recently made a version of this same recipe and subbed the white port for Bourbon and scraped out a vanilla bean and ended up with Bourbon Vanilla Fig Preserves....decadent!

Thanks for the link Gardengritz. Its a nice blog you have!

I made the fig jam today. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I decided to forego the ginger and added the optional orange liquor (Grand Marnier) instead! I did use dried figs that the recipe called for.

Fresh figs are a very rare commodity around here. I've only seen fresh figs once in the grocery store. I think that was when our grocery store first changed hands and they were trying out new products to see what the public wanted. Apparently nobody wanted fresh figs. I haven't seen them since.

Fresh figs don't ship well, as they don't last long, so they are very expensive. That's probably why they didn't sell well.

I have a friend that has a huge fig tree in her back yard. She makes fig preserves every summer, and presents me with a jar for my birthday. She has won prizes at the Texas State Fair for her preserves. I am very lucky to be her friend! I don't, unfortunately, have the recipe, though. My fig tree only produces one or two ripe figs at a time, and I have to beat the birds to them, which is almost impossible to do. I don't know how my friend gets so many figs, except that her tree is so large.

Sally

Thanks Boo! For fig preserves/jam, figs freeze wonderfully well.

Whenever I see them for sale at the farmer's market or when I was able to get them from a friend's tree, I would clean them, remove the stems, and freeze them whole until I was ready to make jam. So, if you can only get a few at a time, freeze them until you have enough to make jam!

I hadn't thought of that. I usually just eat them as I get them. We take turns who gets to eat the fig.

Sally

Jessica also sent me the fig/vanilla preserves, a jar of heaven. I opened it, tasted, and promptly decided not to tell Ashley, who was still at home then. She came home, said "what is this?" and I told her it was figs, she wouldn't like it. She tasted it anyway, and promptly grabbed a spoon. I saved the last "bit" in the bottom for my morning toast, but the stuff was gone nearly as quickly as the jar was opened.

Nancedar sent me some fresh figs by mail, but they were starting to go bad before they even got to me, they are so fragile. I got a very soggy box on my porch, the figs were already soft and I couldn't save them. So, I've still never eaten a fresh fig. I saw them once at the Mediterranean Market in Grand Rapids and knew I wouldn't have time to make jam immediately. Now I'm sorry, it never occurred to me to freeze them. (sigh)

Annie

Ironically. after saying I couldn't find fresh figs in the grocery store, there they were in the grocery store ! Of course I've already made the fig jam! I still bought them and just ate a fresh fig! A rarity for a northern girl!

Gardengrlz, that recipe looks amazing. Thanks for posting the link. I think I'd like to make some fig preserves for Christmas gifts. Annie1992, the Mediterranean market on Kalamazoo and 44th? I am on the hunt for figs and live in the GR area. Haven't found them yet....

I've never made fig jam before even though we have 30+ fig trees on site and I eat them fresh daily. Just picked about 15. Love em sliced in salad with a hit of red onion, olive oil and a drizzle of fig balsamic. I do buy fig jam from Trader Joes or Fresh & Easy. Much easier than making it! Good luck with your recipe!

Bluebell, that's the one. They don't have them all the time, but I've seen them 3 or 4 times. The people are also very kind and patient, so if you can get past the (sometimes) language barrier, they might tell you when they have some.

I love that market, but Elery's baklava is better than theirs, according to my Mother, the expert. (grin)

He also had a nurse from Eritrea when he was having surgery last week, she buys teff there for injera bread, and was amazed that a couple of white people from Big Rapids knew what injera even was, LOL. Oh, and their ajvar is far cheaper and really good. They have stuff there I don't even know what it is, but shopping is great fun!

So, are you ready for the Trader Joe's opening on 28th Street?

Annie

That's what is great about the cooking forum. Great friends who we remember even if they don't post any more, and their food lives on in hearts, and bellies!

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A few years ago, I received a package in the mail from Jude31. In it was a jar of the most delicious fig jam. I'd never had it before, and we loved it.

Me too! Isn't Jude one of the greatest ever?

I have saved the fig jam recipe, although I rarely see fresh figs here. A couple weeks ago they had flats of them at Trader Joes, but I didn't buy them because I had no idea what I would do with them and knew they would spoil before I finished them. Kicking myself now....

I may run to TJ's tomorrow just to see if they got more in.

Linda

Linda, they should still be around for a little while; August and September are the months for figs.

For the diehard fig jam/preserves makers/eaters....what is the shelf life when properly prepared/canned????

Shelf life? You mean there are people who don't eat it as fast as they can? :-)

Colleen, I think people who want there to be some when there are no figs, hide it. Therefore shelf life is important because once you've willed yourself to forget it, you won't see it for months. :)

I can see that orange liqueur would be a good substitute for Port. When I had fig trees in Venice, I would always add orange juice to the fig jam, in addition to the lemons. I would add lemon rinds to the pot and remove them before finishing the jam. I added orange juice because my orange tree there always had oranges - unlike the one I have now. I was lucky that I had ripe lemons when the figs were ripe as well. The figs I had were called "Texas Red" (not an official name), and they were the sweetest I have ever had - quite a bit sweeter than the black Mission figs that are common in California. I had the trees shipped in from Texas and never saw them anywhere else, and now I no longer have them. I really do not have room for a fig tree any more. The bad thing was that when I was getting 60+ figs a day, the weather was very hot, and I did not have air conditioning (to speak of) in Venice, and so the kitchen would get too hot while I was trying to make the jam. Now I have central A/C but no fig trees :(. Fresh figs are probably my favorite fruit, and I do miss having them. I used to send most of the preserves I made to my father, who also had fig trees but no one to make the preserves for him.

These days I have to content myself with fig preserves that I buy.

Fortis, if properly and safely preserved/canned, a fig jam can have a shelf life of 1-2 years, but I bet it won't last that long. :-)

Just a little FYI. I used the fig jam in thumbprint cookies this past weekend. The cookies went over well!

In season here in the Outer Banks figs sell for $2 a quart. Many people grow them and sell them at the farmers market.

TY GardenGriz!

That's what I thought but just wanted to be sure. Unfortunately, we've located some forgotten jars in the basement.....5 yrs old....ughhhh! They still look so pretty in the jar too....oh well.

I did my quarterly/seasonal trip to Costco last weekend and noticed a healthy sized jar of fig preserves. Looked really good though i doubt as good as a homemade jam...just a heads up if you have a Costco nearby.

My cart was a bit full at that point with the usual stocking up of basic pantry staples. Only later did i think it might be nice as a glaze on a mixed berry winter tart....