Only tip I have is to remember to adjust for altitude :-). First jam I ever made was with a couple bags of mixed berries from the frozen food section, box of SureJell pectin and sugar using the recipe in the pectin package. With fresh peaches don't forget the fruit fresh (or vitamin C). I want to try the habanero gold jelly recipe.over on harvest and try canning peaches. I just need to coordinate my free time. Mary - Is it anything like this one from the Harvest forum Apricot-Pineapple Conserve 1 1/2 cups finely chopped dried apricots 1/2 cup golden raisins 1 1/4 cup strained fresh orange juice 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (or more, to taste) 4 cups sugar 1/2 cup sliced almonds (I omitted) 1 (3 oz) pouch liquid pectin In stainless or enamel pan, mix apricots, raisins, orange juice, and lemon juice. Let stand 2 hours. Add undrained pineapple and orange zest. Stir in sugar. Heat stirring constantly till the sugar dissolves. Stir in almonds. Increase heat and bring to a full boil. Stir in pectin and return to a boil, stirring. Boil, 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim foam. Allow conserve to cool about 5 minutes to keep fruit from floating. Stir gently to distribute the fruit. Put into jars (makes 6 half pints.) Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Cover with hot lids and process half pints in bwb for 10 minutes, or 15 minutes for pints. Below is a link to Splenda's Jam recipes. Another option is to use Pomona's pectin (I haven't used it, but it will apparently gel anything and you can use as little sugar as you want or use a sugar substitute like Splenda) We need a canning party! jen Here is a link that might be useful: Splenda Jam recipes

Logans are a bit like marions..marions here have a bit more blackberry characteristics though. Logans are a long purply red kind of musky, a bit sweet/tart berry. They have a bit of a dusty sheen to them. Tayberries are my favorite. They are a bit less "big" than the logans, same shape, same color, but don't have the dusty sheen, and are sweeter. With no muskiness. But I couldn't pick Tays yesterday. They are reserved for farm picking, and the boss wasn't there to give me permission to pick. I was also after Waldos, but they are just coming on. They are a thornless giant blackberry. DELISH! Loganberry Jam See how thick it is..LOL

My friend is not a cook. Another person asked her to bring back saffron and cinnamon from the market in Vietnam so she got some for me, too. She was asking through an interpreter for what she wanted. They insisted the turmeric was saffron. She was doubtful but bought it. I have used it to flavor some rice. It was tasty. I can only describe as I did above, it has a scent that is cinnamon-like and slightly floral like maybe carnations. It has a mild bitterness if tasted straight. It is the usual vivid yellow color. I don't know what would be if not turmeric.

You know, after suffering from runny strawberry jam one year, I was determined to cook mine long enough to "thicken" it the next year, and it got way too thick. I'm wondering if thick jam just holds in the air/bubbles without releasing it. If you're getting a lower yield, you may be evaporating too much water out of your jams. Just a thought. Of course too much water equals runny jam, not enough and you get taffyish stuff. Honestly I don't like peach jam made with pectin. My recipe is a no pectin jam made with maple syrup. Jut a long cook. Here's a copy of my recipe from the wayback machine. I haven't made it in quite a few years, life has gotten so hectic. I'll bet you could sub half sugar for half the maple syrup, or more to save money. The long cooked jams are not translucent with bits of fruit floating in them like the pectin ones. It is yummy though! It's a lower sugar, cooked jam (as opposed to the pectin kind) so it doesn't keep too well once opened, so I put it up in small jars. Keeps fine until opened, just doesn't have a long fridge life. I've eaten it two years after putting it up and it is fine. With this jam, it is so yummy I usually don't have to worry about it languishing in the fridge. But even with the best of jams, I can only eat it so fast being single. That's why the largest jam size I ever do is 1/2 pint. Peach Maple Jam recipe from "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman 5 lbs. peaches 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 cup pure maple syrup 1 tsp. cinnamon Yields about 10 half pints. Blanch the peaches in boiling water to cover for 1 minute to loosen the skins. Drain, cool and peel. Remove the pits and chop the peaches very finely. You can use a food processor. In a large non-aluminum pot, combine the peaches, lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and gently boil for 10 minutes until thick. The jam is ready when it begins to hold its shape when dropped onto a cold plate. Skim off any foam on the surface and ladle into hot, sterilized jars, (1/2 pint or 6 oz.), leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes to seal. (NOTE: I find that I have to cook these jams much longer than the recipe says to get them to firm up. I use the cold plate method to test them, it seems to me to work better than using a thermometer to test for the jell stage)