Palisade Peach Freezer Jam

I have been making peach jam. This is not seasonal in October, strictly speaking, but I bought forty pounds of Palisade peaches at the end of August and they have been sitting in the chest freezer in the garage since then, because I had intended to can them in August and then August became September and September became October and today I opened the freezer and looked at forty pounds of peach slices labeled PEACHES in Brandon's handwriting and decided this was the week. I thawed them over three days, made jam on Saturday with the two big pots going at once, twelve jars by noon, the kitchen smelling like late summer come back to visit fall, which is a smell I recommend to anyone who is feeling seasonally out of step.

Apple week: I made my second batch of applesauce from the remaining Honeycrisps, another twelve quarts canned, and a batch of apple butter in the slow cooker that took six hours and produced eight half-pints of something so good that I ate two spoonfuls standing at the counter and felt briefly like Denise Cooper. My mother cans every fall. Her basement has four shelves of her own production: peaches, applesauce, apple butter, pear sauce, green beans. She has been canning for forty years. I have been canning for three weeks and I already understand why she does it.

Olivia had a book report due Friday and asked me to read her draft on Wednesday night. I read it. She had written a summary of the book and nothing else. I said: tell me what you thought. She said: I thought it was good. I said: what specifically? She looked at me for a moment and then rewrote the paper at the kitchen table in forty-five minutes from scratch, from what she actually thought, and it was better than anything I could have suggested. She said: was that what you meant? I said: exactly. She said: okay. Then she went to bed. She is eleven. She is already someone.

The Orem community center workshop is in two weeks. I have thirty-two women registered.

After twelve jars by noon and a kitchen thick with that late-summer-visiting-fall smell, I thought I’d share the recipe I used for the peach jam—because if you, like me, have a chest freezer full of good intentions labeled in someone else’s handwriting, this is the one that makes the waiting worth it. It’s simple enough that three weeks of canning experience is plenty, and forgiving enough that you can eat two spoonfuls standing at the counter and still have jars to line your own shelf.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes (plus processing) | Servings: 12 half-pint jars

Ingredients

5 pounds frozen peach slices, thawed (about 10 cups mashed)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 package (1.75 oz) powdered fruit pectin
7 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon butter (to reduce foaming)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the jars. Sterilize twelve half-pint mason jars, lids, and bands. Keep jars hot in simmering water until ready to fill. Set up a boiling water bath canner.
Mash the peaches. Drain thawed peach slices, reserving any juice. Using a potato masher or fork, mash peaches to your preferred texture—some chunks are good. You want about 10 cups of mashed fruit.
Combine fruit and pectin. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, combine mashed peaches, reserved juice, lemon juice, and powdered pectin. Add butter. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
Add sugar. Add all 7 cups of sugar at once, stirring to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract, if using. Skim any foam.
Fill the jars. Ladle hot jam into prepared jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth. Center lids on jars and screw bands on fingertip-tight.
Process. Place filled jars in boiling water bath canner. Process for 10 minutes (adjust for altitude: add 1 minute per 1,000 feet above sea level). Remove jars and let cool undisturbed on a towel for 12 to 24 hours.
Check seals. Press center of each lid—it should not flex. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 3 weeks. Sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

Nutrition (per 2-tablespoon serving)

Palisade Peach Freezer Jam — Forty Pounds of Late Summer, Jarred