Yes! Tomato Jam Session!

We have had tomatoes coming out of our ears! Not complaining, just saying!

It looks like there are still more on the vines. My plants look like vines, since they have all fallen over onto the pathways between the raised beds. The plants were way too heavy for our little wire things. But we knew that, and it was kind of fun hunting for ripe tomatoes in the tall grass that I could not even weedeat. Like hunting for red Easter eggs! ;))))

After watching last Tuesday's harvest get riper and riper on our huge Delft blue platters, I decided to do something with them today. So I blanched the cleaned tomatoes (Celebrity, Arkansas Traveler, Roma, and French cherry tomatoes), dunked them in cold water, easily removed the skins, and made JAM.

Here are the results and empty platters:

Beautiful color. Even has an appropriate sell by date! The dark spot in the jar is a blackberry.

Here is my recipe:

The Last Tomatoes Jam

(Wetcreek Kitchen, August 2013)

About 5 cups peeled tomatoes (all sorts of varieties)

2 peeled and sliced Gala apples (I know, they are not cooking apples. Only kind we had.)

A handful of wild blackberries I had stored in a baggie in the freezer

Almost 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice  (Who keeps fresh lemons way out here in the country?)

1 package of Ball jam making pectin powder

5 cups of white sugar

1. Cook the tomatoes, apples, and blackberries until the tomatoes fall apart.

2. Add the lemon juice and the Ball pectin powder and cook to a rolling boil.

3. Add the sugar and continue boiling for a minute or so.

4. Scald glass jars and lids.

5. Add hot jam to warm jars. Screw on jar lids tightly and flip upside down on clean towel on table.

6. Clean up your mess in the kitchen and then turn the jars upright.

7. Let the jars cool overnight. Then store them in the fridge. 

If the jam does not JAM, I will use it as ice cream topping. The leftover syrup in the pan tastes great!

Next Day Results:

Jam did not Jam! 

Maybe I rushed it. 

Maybe the tomatoes were too juicy. 

Maybe I will try Serta next time.

Maybe not enough sugar.

Maybe I won't bother with making tomato jam again.

I will not try to remedy this situation, and I will try to find some use for my Tomato Syrup;)))))