The Days of Madness have passed....

The world, or at least my kitchen, is safe for a few more months;-)

At first, we thought Paco Belle was the Kitchen Porter as she seemed interested in keeping the floor cleaned of dropped foodstuffs, but soon decided she was the Kitchen Demon we accidentally summoned. We thought we were relieved, for a spell, by using garlic in so many things (Not, I hasten to mention, the strawberry jam!) until my sister Melanie, reminded us that garlic only works on Vampires, not Demons. However, we persevered....

Paco Belle aka The Kitchen Demon

 And ended up making a new record, after promising ourselves we weren't going to be quite as crazy-mad as before. We put up 533 jars of jams, relishes, chutneys, etc. (NOTE: I did not do, nor did I check, the math.) Yes, many were 4 oz, but it takes as much work to fill and process 4 oz as it does 8 or 12 oz jars, actually more as we can only put 7 at a time in the water bath. We just have to do it more often ;-) We each now have about 177 jars to keep, enjoy, or give to friends and family ;-)

Canton Ginger the first to be jarred.

Went through slightly less than 100 lbs of sugar, 12 cups of which went into making brown sugar (4 cups sugar, 1 cup molasses, mix well. A pastry cutter works well.)

Apple &c Chutney

20 lbs of chopped onion

Chopped about 25 lbs of onions, of which we used all but a scant cup. There were 5 jalapenos and 8 or so bell peppers left over. They are now fire roasted and will go into the freezer—or my dinner ;-)

We used all the jars purchased, and several more already on hand. Jars and rings cost money, and if people give you home canned goods, please return the jars and rings to them. The flats (lids) can be trashed, as they can't safely be reused. Of course if you have to mail them, then you're forgiven for not returning them, but please either reuse them yourself, or donate them to someone who will use them. Do Not recycle with your garbage. Please.

boiling Jalapeño Jelly

Strawberry Jam

Onion Jam with roasted garlic

 Below is the list of what we made. If you want some, please let me know (by email), in order, your top six picks. No guarantee, but I'll have an idea of what you like/want. Then we'll just have to meet for the 'hand-off' ;-)

List of Jams, etc. from the 2014 Jamathon

Low Sugar	Recipe	12 oz. jars	8 oz. jars *	4 oz. jars
	Canton ginger		15
	Victorian BBQ sauce (rhubarb) (x2) – Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0778801313), p. 259.		12	6
	Plum Ketchup		14	8
	Gingered Asian Pear Marmalade			14
	Nectarine Lemon Basil Preserves		3	8
	Onion Jam (x4) (2 double batches)		21	10
	Blueberry-Rhubarb Jam		6	6
	Gingered Nectarine Honey	6	15	6
	Apple-Rhubarb Chutney – Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0778801313), p. 239		6
x	Strawberry Jam (x2) [added 4Tbs rosewater, 4Tbs lemon juice, 2.5C Sugar, 1tsp Ca-water, 4tsp pectin]		6	6
x	Raspberry (rose) (x2) [8C raspberry puree, 2oz rosewater, 2C sugar]		6	7
	Nectarine Chutney (Peach Chutney recipe) (x2)		16	9
x	Nectarine Lemon Basil Jam with Honey – adapted from Nectarine Lemon Verbena Jam with Honey – Preserving by the Pint (ISBN 978-0762449682), pg. 65		6	5
	Mango Nectarine Chutney (X4) [2 batches regular, 2 batches with 2oz jalapeno. use 3 oz. next time]		15	20
	Summer Squash Relish (x4!!!)	15	9	4
x	Blueberry Jam [lime juice]		3	3
x	Blueberry-Blackberry Jam [lemon juice]		3	3
x	Strawberry-Blueberry Jam (x2)		6	8
x	Strawberry with Rosewater (x2) [1/4C rosewater, 3C sugar, 4 tsp Ca-water, 4 tsp pectin]		6	9
x	Strawberry-Nectarine-Basil (x4) [1/2C basil leaves, 1/2C lime juice, 6C sugar, pectin 9 tsp, Ca-water 12 tsp		15	15
	Nectarine Pepper Relish (x2) – Well Preserved - Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook (ISBN 978-1552859889), p. 160 [very salty, rinse better next time]		9	8
	Jalapeno Jelly (3 regular batches, 1 batch with 1 habanero)		31	11
	Damson Plum [juice and zest of one orange] (11.5 c puree)		10	9
	Damson Plum with Crystallized Ginger (11.5C Puree) [3/4C minced crystallized ginger]		6	9
x	Rhubarb Jam			10
x	Strawberry-Blackberry-Rhubarb Jam (5.0:2.5:0.5 ratio) [2.5 Tbl lemon juice, 4 tsp Ca-water, 4 tsp pectin, 3C sugar]		6	6
x	Nectarine Jam with Ginger (x2)		6	9
x	Apricot Raisin Chutney with Almonds		13	9
x	Strawberry Nectarine Orange Jam [Orange Water, 1/4c Orange Juice, Zest Of One Orange]		3	4
x	Nectarine-Jalapeno Jam (x2) [4 jalapeno, lime juice]		6	9
x	Nectarine with Ginger & Cardamom (x2)		6	8
x	Spiced Nectarine Jam (x2) [8C puree, 1tsp allspice, 1tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves]		6	8
	GRAND TOTAL IS	21	285	247

*  Bolded and underlined numbers in the 8-oz. column are wide-mouth jars.

531 Jars of Yumminess