Adventures in canning + printable jar labels | How About Orange

September 12, 2011

Adventures in canning + printable jar labels

The folks at SweetPreservation.com are aiming to make canning cool for a new generation. They invited me to be a "canbassador" again this year, sending over a generous box of Washington state stone fruits. After my first low-budget but highly-successful canning effort last year, I was happy to try again. Though I still refuse to buy a giant pot and special tongs. And I couldn't find any pectin at the grocery store, so I went for recipes that use just fruit and sugar.

This year I made plum jam using this easy recipe, altered to a 1:1 ratio of plums and sugar as suggested in the comments. I chopped the plums up with a kitchen knife. The resulting jam is a little runnier than I'd have liked, but very yummy. The only mishap occurred when my back was turned and the pot of plums boiled over, creating a delicious lake of plum syrup on my stovetop. Oh well. I needed to clean it anyway.

I made peach butter, too, with this crock pot method. The house smelled like a country gift shop all day. I halved the recipe to fit in my pot and omitted the cloves, but the peach butter is still a little too spiced for my taste. Next time I'm ditching the allspice, too. The consistency turned out perfectly, and the method for skinning the peaches worked like a charm.

I also whipped up a printable freebie for some jar labels. The circles are 2" in diameter when printed at 100%, sized to fit on the lids of small jam jars. You can also punch a hole in the top and tie them to a jar with baker's twine. Download a PDF right here, then print out the page and write on the labels.

Check out SweetPreservation.com for more free printables and recipes!

29 comments:

Grandma G said...

Well, yum!! I didn't know you'd been so busy being 'domestic'! Good girl! ;)

Mum

Jessica Jones said...

What about you being domestic? SHOW ME THE PURSE!

Grandma G said...

Almost done. This last row of stitching is proving to be the hardest. So many layers to sew through. :( Several rip-outs and restarts. I needed a blog-reading break before I tackle what I'm HOPING is the last bit of stitching. Holding my breath......

Sewer/Mum

Jessica Jones said...

You can do it, Mumsy!

Grandma G said...

I DID IT!!!! Now waiting for the iron to heat. Then to take pics.

(I'm kinda glad Rachel can't examine this one. ;) )

Jessica Jones said...

Nonsense. I'm sure it's stupendous.

Aubrey said...

you rock! these labels are fab.

Diana Twiss said...

Woo hoo!! I LOVE canning! :)Thank you for the fun resource.

allie.duckienz said...

Oh I so love the banter between you and 'Mumsy'! It warms my heart!

Oly Momma said...

Thanks for sharing! I've taken up a little canning myself this year and can't wait to use these. Pectin is super easy to find here in Olympia, WA so I was surprised to read that your grocery store didn't have it. The hot water bath/pot canner thingy :) is great though, I picked one up at Goodwill for $8 or $25 new at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I got a kit with the tongs and the magnet wand thing too for another $10 at Target. For years of canning it's totally worth it. I hope you're having fun, I sure am. - Jess at OlyMomma

KeTreKo said...

And such adorable jars!

XO Kerstin

Kristina said...

Thanx for the resource! Made some plum jam, all I need are those lovely jar labels!

CBH said...

Thank you so much for this post. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in CBH Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, under the Page 5 post on Sep. 13, 2011. Thanks again.

melissa said...

these are beautiful! i'm just about to pick all my figs to make preserves! thanks!!

Unknown said...

You have convinced me to try canning. Who knew that was possible? I'm off to buy some peaches!

lp said...

Have you seen the book Canning for a New Generation? I can't remember the author's name, but it has also tempted me into retrying canning. I thought I had sort of given it up after a few attempts, but she lured me back. Her stuff is really unique. Thanks for the labels!

Poppyprint said...

ooo, pioneering. Love it. I never use pectin anymore and everything seems to work out very well. I think as long as you throw in one or two pieces of fruit that are not quite ripe, and some lemon juice, you can get plenty of natural pectin working in your favor. I've never tried plum jam but they're everywhere at the moment, so perhaps I'll give it a go!

Josje. said...

Friend of my always makes jam etc. I will send this to her, love the labels.

Jessica Jones said...

lp, I haven't seen that book. Sounds fun!

Poppyprint, I bet that was part of the trouble with my plums—they were quite ripe, to the point of getting just a bit squishy by the time I got to them. Having some less-ripe ones would have been better for more pectin action, as I understand it.

Angela said...

I'll second the recommendation for Canning for a New Generation -- I've tried canning for the first time this year, and made four of her jams, plus preserved cherries, plus crushed tomatoes: all a roaring success! I would suggest some tongs, though -- makes all the difference for a klutz like me.
Thanks for the labels!!

Katie Evans said...

Fun labels! Makes me want to can something just so I can use them! :)

sylvï said...

about to drown in plums so thanks for this!

the jars are awesome, are they vintage or an available brand? love the lean look.

Jessica Jones said...

They're Ball jars—I've seen them at our local grocery store and Ace Hardware. Pretty common, I think.

Anonymous said...

Pectin is sold online at Amazon! It's pretty affordable there or on the Ball Jars website :) I have began my adventure in canning and I LOVE it...I'm kind of addicted

Kaylovesvintage said...

that looks so good
great for gifts

Margot Madison Creative said...

I love the idea of canning--more my husband's specialty than mine I'll admit. This year we are going to try homemade chutney because we like to be strange...

xo

Mindy Lou Hagan said...

Oh my gosh! I've been wanting to find plum jam all summer after realizing I've never seen it as a jam or jelly that I can recall. Then I realized the only way reasonably to get it is to just make it myself. LoL! I'm so glad you shared this! Thank you! The recipe sounds very easy and delicious as well. ;D

Paulo said...

Thanks these labels comes just in time. We are just making tomato jam and we've already have a delicious blackberry jam waiting for those labels.

Soon we'll share the jam recipes on our blog.

www.amamima.com

Mrs.Wade said...

Thanks for the printables!!! Just started canning with my mom and SIL to save some money and eat more real food and all we were missing was cute labels! love it!

http://www.iheartbudgets.net