Apple Butter

I made an apple pie for Thanksgiving and had some leftover apples, so I made apple butter. It’s so yummy on toast or pancakes. I based my recipe on this one from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The main differences are the size of the batch, the way the puree is made, and also I didn’t can my apple butter. You definitely could though. Since I made such a small batch, it wasn’t worth it to me. If you do want to can your apple butter, just follow the instructions on the webpage I linked to above. I didn’t have apple cider or apple cider vinegar, but I imagine using them could only make your apple butter more full of apple flavor!

Apple butter should be thick like this when it's finished cooking.

Plum Jam From Our Own Trees!

Last week our plum trees were full of ripe plums. I went out to pick them and brought in a bowl containing two and a half kilos of plums! About 30 minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door. It was some little neighbor boys asking if they could pick some plums too. So cute! They’ve been coming back almost everyday to pick more plums, but I’m pretty sure they’ve picked all of them by this point.

Guava Jam (mermelada de guayaba)

We love guava season! Here’s what’s so great about guavas:

• They taste like a tropical version of a pear
• When made into jam, the whole house smells lovely
• Half of them are a beautiful shade of pink on the inside

Here’s what’s not so great about guavas:

• Since they’re small, peeling them for jam takes a long time
• They’re prone to worminess (because they’re so sweet)
• They’re full of seeds

So, making jam out of guavas can be a long process, but for me it’s totally worth it.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich – all from scratch

I recently had the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich of which I made all the parts from scratch! Yummy! There’s no pic for this post, but you know what peanut butter and jelly looks like. Try it yourself – it’s worth the extra effort.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Tart Plum Jam

Wheat Bread

Tart Plum Jam

Update, May 2010 – I now have another recipe posted for plum jam. The new version is shelf-stable (uses real canning techniques) and is slightly easier because it doesn’t involve straining out the pits. Here’s the new plum jam post.

Plums are in season lately, which is great because they’re one of my favorite fruits here. We even have some plums from the 2 plum trees in our yard. I’m not that into making jam, but I love this jam and it’s pretty simple to make. Also, you don’t necessarily need canning supplies and pectin to make some jams, including this one. The pits in the plums actually have pectin in them that helps the jam thicken (at least these plums do). If you store this jam in the refrigerator and eat it within a month or 2, you don’t need to be so particular about having the right kind of jar or sealing it closed with heat.