Yesterday – during my regular Sunday call with Mom – I told her about the big bucket of green tomatoes I needed to put up today. This morning she called me to give me a couple of recipes for Green Tomato Raspberry Jam. I took the best of both recipes, modified them a bit, and came up with this. I made two batches with great success.

Because the recipe doesn’t call for Sure-Jell, it takes longer to cook and a bit more thought (because making jam with Sure-Jell is super easy), but it’s not hard and I’m going to show you how to make it. This is how our mothers and grandmothers made jam before Sure-Jell came along (minus the Jell-O, of course!).

You’ll need 5 3/4 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of raspberries (I used frozen berries), 1 large package of regular (not sugar-free) Jell-O, and 5 cups of ground green tomatoes (with the juice).

Note: The original recipes call for 5 cups of sugar, 1 cup of raspberries, 1 large package of Jell-O, and 5 cups of ground green tomatoes. I grabbed a 12 ounce package of raspberries and wanted to use all of it so I increased the amount of sugar. (It needed more sugar to thicken properly.)

I made a second batch of jam and tested the ingredients again and it worked perfectly, so I feel good about giving you my altered ingredients list.

You can make this recipe without the berries (the ground green tomatoes provides the texture), if you’d like. If you choose to do that, just use 5 cups of sugar.

Following me?

Grind up the green tomatoes in a food processor until they look like this.

Throw all the ingredients into a large pot (I used a soup pot) and bring them to a full bubbling boil. Then, turn the heat down some and allow the jam to boil for about 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After about 30 minutes, start testing the liquid to see what the “stage” is. You want to cook it until it reaches the jelly stage.

The jelly stage?

Hmmm…. I know that might confuse people who have never made jam this way before…

Here’s what mom taught me about the jelly stage. She said, “The liquid needs to coat the spoon and when you drop it into the pan, you’ll see a slow drip that is kind of thick – not super thick – but it isn’t as runny as syrup. There is a hesitation in the liquid before it drops off the spoon.”

Well, she might not have said that exact thing, but it’s pretty close. I think about  that conversation every time I make jam or jelly. I still remember where I was standing in the kitchen when she said it.

Mom: This conversation happened when you were living in the big St. George house. We were making sour plum jelly. Do you remember that day? It tasted like currant jelly. I wish my flowering plums produced fruit like that. I’ve never seen flowering plums with fruit since…

So everybody… remember: When the jam reaches the “jelly” stage, the liquid is kind of thick – but not too thick. There will be a slight breath of air before the liquid drriiiipps off the spoon. If it runs off the spoon quickly, it isn’t ready yet.

I typed drriiipppps for effect because it isn’t a fast drip. It’s a drrriipppppp!

This is what it looks like in the pan when it gets to the right stage. It starts looking thicker. The bubbles even change a bit because they start to hesitate slightly before they pop. The boiling sounds a little bit louder because of the popping.

Don’t wait too long, though, or you could end up with candy.

Just kidding. You won’t do that. I have faith in you. You’ll stop cooking the jam as soon as it starts to slowly drrriiiippp off the spoon.

Right?

Right!

Action shot.

Here is a dripping shot. See how there are spaces between the drips?

If your jam has any foam on top, scoop it off…

…and throw it away. You don’t want foam in your bottles of jam. Foam is yuck-o.

You might not have any foam in your green tomato raspberry jam, though. Each batch of jam is different. I had to scoop it off of my first batch of jam, but I didn’t have to the second time around.

Pour into clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process the jars for 10 minutes.

You should have 4 pints of jam if you use  1 1/2 cups of raspberries. If you use other berries, you might end up with less jam – as I did the second time around. That time I ended up with 3 pints and 1 cup of jam.

Jam making isn’t an exact science so I can’t promise you exactly how much jam you’ll end up with. Not knowing is part of the fun!

Note 1:  I have a tutorial about how to process jars in this post.

Note 2: This green tomato raspberry jam recipe is very versatile. The first time I made it, I used raspberry Jell-O and raspberries. The second time I made it, I used cherry Jell-O and some mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries). Both batches were good – just different.

Note 3: Try not to stress too much about testing the jam. If you under-cook it a bit, you can use it as syrup. If you over-cook it, you’ll just have super-thick jam. It is unlikely you’ll over-cook it because you’ll be anxious to have it over.  Just remember… it’s a hesitating drrriiippp…drrriiippp…drrriiippp… The liquid almost takes a little breath of air before drip.

It’s kind of cool.

Okay… if you decide to make this jam, come back and tell me how it went, okay? I’d love to know if my explanation of the jelly stage was helpful!

Green Tomato Raspberry Jam

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Ingredients

• 5 cups ground green tomatoes (Keep the liquid.)
• 5 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 large box raspberry Jell-O

Directions

Step 1

Grind the green tomatoes in your food processor. Maintain the liquid.

Step 2

Dump all of the ingredients into large, heavy pan. (A soup kettle works well.)

Step 3

Bring to a bubbling boil.

Step 4

Reduce the heat and cook for approximately 35-40 minutes until the jam reaches the jelly stage. Stir occasionally.

Step 5

Pack in clean bottling jars and process for 10 minutes.

Note

1, The jelly stage is reached when the liquid becomes thick enough to hesitate before it drops off the spoon during testing. If it runs off the spoon quickly, keep cooking the jam.

2. You can make this jam without the berries. If you do, reduce the sugar to 5 cups. The ground tomatoes give the jam a "berry" texture and the tomato seeds look like berry seeds.

3. You can use different kinds of red Jell-O and berries, if you'd like. This recipe is very versatile because you determine when the jam is thick enough by testing it, as demonstrated.

As promised, here’s my recipe for Dilly Pickled Green Tomatoes. The original recipe doesn’t call for celery and jalapeno, but I like a little kick so I added some to mine.

The recipe is pretty easy to make. Just put the cleaned green tomatoes and spices into prepared jars, mix up the pickling brine, pour it over the green tomatoes, and process the jars.

I always resist the temptation to eat the dilly pickled green tomatoes right away. I think they are better after they have cured a while.

Enjoy!

Dilly Pickled Green Tomatoes

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Ingredients

• 5lb green tomatoes (small, firm tomatoes are best)
• dill (heads or seed)
• garlic cloves
• whole cloves
• 1/3 cup pickling salt
• 1 quart white vinegar
• 1 quart water
• celery (optional)
• jalapeno (optional)

Directions

Step 1

Wash small, firm tomatoes. Pack the tomatoes in clean quart jars. If the tomatoes are very small, you can put them in whole. If they are a little larger, slice them into 1/4" slices before packing.

Step 2

Add 3 or 4 heads of dill or 2 tablespoon of dill seed, 1 clove garlic, and 1 whole clove to each jar.

Step 3

Combine vinegar, water, and pickling salt and bring to a boil.

Step 4

Pour the boiling liquid into each join, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Step 5

Process jars for 20 minutes.

Note

Makes 5 quarts of pickles.

If you'd like, you can also put in a sliced stick of celery and, for a little kick, some slices of jalapenos.

(Recipe adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, published sometime in the 1970's.)

I’ve had lots of requests this week from readers who want to know how I make homemade peach syrup. Because I’d imagine that some people don’t know anything about canning, I’m going to take you through the entire process – step-by-step – as if you were working along side of me in my kitchen. If you already know how to can, you can skip down to the bottom of the post to get the printable recipe.

Note: You can make multiple batches of syrup at once. The determining factor is what size of pan you use.

Note 2: If you make a single batch of the syrup and you aren’t into canning like I am, you can pour the syrup in a jar and keep it in the refrigerator.

Note 3: Peach syrup makes a wonderful gift. People love it.

SUPPLIES

• Canning processor (steamer or water-bath)
• Blender
• Canning jars, rings, and lids
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Peaches

Boil some water in a pot. As Mom and Grandma always said, “Put a lid on that pot. The water will boil faster!”

Place a few peaches in a strainer. Make sure the strainer has a handle on it or you’ll get yourself into trouble. I received this strainer as a wedding gift. It’s so 70′s!

Immerse the peaches in the hot water for about 30 seconds. Don’t leave them in there too long or you’ll end up with mushy peaches.

Take the peaches out of the hot water and spray them with cold water until you can handle them.

Slip the skin off of the peaches.

Cut the top off of the peaches, remove the pits, and cut them up.

MAKING THE SYRUP

Measure the peaches as you are cutting them up. You’ll need about 5 cups of chopped peaches for each batch. You can make multiple batches at once.

Put the chopped peaches in a large, sturdy pot. I have a number of Revere Ware soup pots that I use.

Revere Ware pans last more than lifetime. I highly recommend them. I own several large Revere Ware soup pots. I inherited the pot you see in this particular photo from my mother-in-law.

Add 2 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice for each 5 cups of chopped peaches.

You are going to mash the peaches while heating them. I use a potato masher.

Stir and mash the peaches while heating until the sugar completely dissolves.

Now, you are going to blend the peaches and liquid until smooth. I use my Blendtec blender to do this. I resisted getting a Blendtec for years because they pretty pricey. But my husband wanted me to have one so badly that he finally bought one and gave it to me as a Mother’s Day gift.

I love it! I use it often, because it works so well. It has special settings – such as soups and syrups – that allow you to push a single button and walk away. The blender heats the liquid up and processes it to the syrup stage. It only takes 90 seconds to make the syrup!

Amazing.

You don’t have to have a Blendtec to make syrup, but it sure speeds up the process.

Here my required action shot. The blender is working.

Go, blender, go!

If you have a Blendtec blender (or another brand that heats the liquid to the syrup stage), test the liquid to see if it is thick enough. If it is, the liquid will be kind of thick and will slowly drop off of the spoon. If it runs off of the spoon quickly, it isn’t syrup yet.

If your blender doesn’t have a syrup setting, the next steps show you how to turn the liquid into syrup.

Once all the peaches are blended, taste the syrup. If you decide that the syrup needs more sugar, pour it back into a pot, because you need to reheat it.

If your blender doesn’t have an automatic syrup setting, you must put it in the pot so that you can boil it until it becomes syrup!

Bring the liquid to a boil, testing as it heats up. Once it has reached the syrup stage, immediately remove the pot from the heat.

Skim the foam off of the top with a large spoon.

CANNING THE SYRUP

Pour the syrup through a wide-mouth funnel into  clean canning jars. I use pint jars, but you can use any size you wish.

Leave 1/2 inch head space.  If you happen to get any liquid on the rim, wipe it off.

The rims MUST be clean or the lids won’t seal.

This is a trick my mother taught me: Increase the odds that the lids will seal the first try by simmering them in water for about a minute. Fish them out with a fork when ready to use.

Put the canning lids on the jars.

Put the rings on the jars and tighten. If you hold the bottom of the bottle with a dish towel, it is easier to tighten the ring.

PROCESSING THE JARS

Here comes the controversial part of this post…

I use a steamer while canning fruits, pickles, jams, jellies, syrups, and juices. I’ve used one for 36 years and my mother has used one longer than that. My mother-in-law used one, too. Steamers speed up the process dramatically and the food gets super hot. It actually boils inside of the bottles.

However, for some reason, certain people think that steamers are dangerous because they believe that the food doesn’t get hot enough.

But here’s the thing…  The lids seal tight in the steamer. The food boils. I can’t imagine why that is a problem.

I have never, ever had any trouble with the food that I have processed in a steamer and I’ve been at this for a long, long time.

When you use a steamer, you don’t have to wait for a huge pot of water stuffed full of bottles to boil before you can begin timing the processing. Believe me when I say, this saves a lot of time.

I have a water-bath canner, but I only use it while making applesauce. (I use it like a big soup pot.) But when it is time to process the jars, I use my steamer.

If you hate the idea of steamers, then just use a water-bath canner.

To each their own.

Now… on with the show…

Put some water in the bottom of the steamer. Put the bottles on the steamer shelf, taking care not to place them on top of the holes. You can process seven jars at a time.

Once steam starts shooting out of the holds in the steamer’s lid, set your timer for 15 minutes. If you are using a water-bath canner, start your timer when the water boils.

Once the 15 minute processing time is up, carefully place the bottles on your counter, cooling rack, or a cutting board. I have a granite countertop, so I can place them directly on the counter.

Oh – and use a hot pad when you pick them up. You’ll see why as soon as you touch one of the bottles. They are hot!

The rings will be loose. Do not re-tighten them!

As the bottles cool, you will begin to hear little high popping sounds coming from the jars. That’s a GOOD thing. It means that the lids  have sealed.

Once the bottles are cool, tap on the lids. If you hear a high-pitched, tinny sound coming from the lids, they have sealed. If you hear a low-pitched thunk while tapping, the lids haven’t sealed.

If the lids haven’t sealed, put the bottles in your refrigerator to use immediately, or replaced the lids with new ones and reprocess. 

You’ve done it! Admire your beautiful jars of syrup. Homemade peach syrup is wonderful on pancakes, French toast, waffles, German pancakes, ice cream….you name it

Note of encouragement: If you haven’t ever bottled before, it might feel overwhelming. But really… it isn’t as hard as it looks. If you have questions, feel free to add a comment to this post and I’ll help you out.  You can save a lot of money by canning your own fruit  - particularly, if you grow a garden and have some fruit trees.

Why you should plant fruit trees: If you own your own home, I highly -HIGHLY – recommend that you plant some fruit trees. They are beautiful – particularly in the spring as they bloom. Ripe fruit picked from a tree is amazing and you’ll save so much money over time. Fall is a great time to plant fruit trees because nurseries have fall sales and the fruit trees don’t have to struggle through a hot summer while taking root.

Two Options for Processing Jars (Available from Amazon.com)

Back to Basics 400A 7-Quart Aluminum Home Steam Canner

Some steamers use a flat, wire rack to hold the bottles, rather than a shelf like mine has. My mother-in-law’s steamer has a rack. I inherited it from her so I have two steamers now. I can process a lot of jars at once!

Granite Ware 0707-1 21-1/2-Quart Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner with Rack

Homemade Peach Syrup

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How to make homemade peach syrup.

Ingredients

• 5 cups sliced peaches
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Step 1

Add peeled and halved peaches to a large pot.

Step 2

Add sugar and lemon juice.

Step 3

Mash ingredients together with a potato masher while heating.

Step 4

Once the peaches are broken down into small pieces and the sugar is dissolved, use a blender to blend them until smooth in batches.

Step 5

If your blender has a "syrup setting", the blended peaches will heat up and thicken to the syrup stage. If your blender doesn't have that option, pour the liquid into a new, large pot.

Step 6

Taste the syrup. If it isn't sweet enough (or if the smooth liquid isn't thick enough), pour the liquid into a large pot. Add sugar to taste.

Step 7

While stirring, cook the liquid until it reaches the syrup stage. You can tell if it has reached the right thickness by dripping the liquid from a spoon. The drops should have a semi-thick consistency and there should be a slight delay before they fall off of the spoon.

Step 8

Skim off any foam that develops while cooking.

Step 9

Pour into clean canning jars. Make sure you leave 1/2 inch heading space between the syrup and the top of the jar.

Step 10

Add canning lids and rings, and process in a water bath or a canning steamer for 15 minutes.

Step 11

Cool jars. Make sure that the lids have sealed by tapping on them with a fingernail. If you hear a high, tinny sound, they have sealed. If you hear a low-pitched clunk, they haven't sealed. To reseal them, replace the lid and reprocess.

Step 12

Tip: Simmer the canning lids in a small amount of water for about a minute before using them. This softens up the rubber and increases the odds that the lids will seal.

Note

The color of your syrup will be determined by the color of the peach flesh. If the peaches have a yellow flesh, the syrup will be yellow. If you'd like, you could add a little bit if red food coloring to make it orange.