Homemade Fig Jam

The rains a few weeks ago came at just the right time for our last fig crop of the year making them nice and plump. Conveniently the biggest branch, well out of reach and covered with figs, snapped in the rain giving us figs galore right at our feet! Zolie and I picked them and cut firewood Sunday and started making Jam early Monday morning. After getting things started, Zolie got Kyrsten up to speed so I could get to work. While I was gone the two of them reduced the mix down to very nice jam, canned it and even made beautiful labels. We tried out the new fig jam this morning on pancakes with the homemade butter we made a few weeks back. Yum! Apple butter is next!

Zolie’s Fig Jam

Boiling water (enough to cover figs completely)
4 qts fresh figs (8 cups crushed)
2 cups Sugar
3 cups water
8 slices lemon
Pour boiling water over figs; let stand 15 minutes. Drain and thoroughly rinse in cold water. Pat dry; remove stems. Crush and measure figs; place in large heavy pot. Add 1/4 cup sugar for each cup of crushed figs. Add 3 cups water. Bring to a rapid boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 3 hours or until thickened, stirring occasionally.Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace; add a slice of lemon to each jar. Cover at once with metal lids and screw on bands finger tight. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. Yield: 8, 1/2 pints.
Posted Under: How To,Stories from Home,Zolie
This post was written by Form & Reform on November 18, 2008 Comments (1)

Homemade Butter

My daughter Zolie and I thought it would be fun to make butter to go with Mom’s pancakes. My local homeless friend Hank found this great Daisy Churn #4 for me a few weeks back. With the leftover cream from the birthday pies we made last week and a copy of Joy of Cooking from 1964 we got to work. Right away we knew we were in for the long haul when we read “how much slower the process was in threatening or stormy weather”. We looked outside and saw it was still raining. We worked the handle on top of the table, then on the floor and finally we moved out to the living room to catch a movie while we finished. Finally we had what looked like butter. After removing it from the churn and washing with cold water we had to decide what kind of salt to add. We split it up and added French British Maldon sea salt to half and Korean parched salt to the other. The whole time we made it Zolie kept telling me to go slower dad. How she knew that I have no idea. I kept asking her where she lived last and who she was. Old souls make great butter even in the rain!

cranking hard on the table

It’s thicker now and she had to move it to the floor for better leverage.

Home made butter on Kyrsten’s buckwheat pancakes!

Update

The butter tastes great and the little bit of Buttermilk left in pockets of the butter makes it moist on toast.

Buttermilk will get used this Sat. for more Pancakes and fresh butter!

Here is how you can make at home

Make Butter

Posted Under: Friends,How To,Stories from Home,Zolie
This post was written by Form & Reform on November 6, 2008 Comments (5)
www.flickr.com
jon sarriugarte's items Go to jon sarriugarte's photostream