Golden Rewards

When I was a teenager, I helped my mother can fruits and vegetables. I dreaded it at the time, but now I am thankful for the experience and the confidence that it gave me. I am now able to make my own jellies, jams, pickles, etc. if I desire.

It is gratifying to see the end result and to savor the taste of summer in the middle of winter. Today, I captured some summer sunshine in mason jars. I think my mother would be proud.

My neighbor gave me a bag of apricots from her tree since the branches were so burdened with the fruit and bending to the ground. Working with apricots was new to me, so I searched the internet for an apricot jam recipe. Apricots are a low pectin fruit and require additional pectin. I have used MCP pectin many times and trust their recipes to be easy and tasty which is why I selected the MCP apricot jam recipe on Kraft foods website.

I was surprised how easy this jam was to make. I used my mini food processor to chop the fruit, and I probably pureed it too much, but the consistency was difficult to judge. Two batches of the recipe resulted in 10 pints of jam.















My mother's birthday is today, so in her honor, I photographed the jam on a Rail Fence quilt that I made our of some flour sacks that I inherited from her. Mom was always baking and canning on the farm. She had a lot of people to feed during harvest. I remember helping her select flour sacks that matched those that she already had so she would have enough fabric to use for pillow cases, dish towels, and sometimes clothing.

The fabric is typical of the fifties and early sixties - gawdy and bright.

My mother gave me the confidence to try new things, and today, I reaped Golden Rewards. Thanks, Mom