Adventures in Jam making

I have a fig tree.  When we were under contract on our new house, it was one of the exciting things about the property.  However, I must admit...I could probably count the number of times I'd had a fresh fig on one hand.  Sure, I've eaten them dried, and in dessert, but rarely fresh and NEVER right off of a tree.  They are delicious!  They are so sweet and soft...they almost melt in your mouth.  I had no idea what I was missing!  Anyway, while pondering what I should do with my figs when they ripened, I immediately thought of making fig jam.  I mean, isn't that what one does with fruit they don't know how to use?  To the internet I went in search of a good fig jam recipe and the necessary equipment to make and can it.

The internet can be a very useful tool.  It proved to be so for me in this search.  I've attached the link here if you're interested.  This site has TONS of jam recipes.  It also has recipes for canning veggies, salsas, etc...  The problem with this recipe was that I only had about 20 figs (it called for 40), and mine are of a smaller variety.  I didn't quite have enough to make a batch of jam.  So, I decided to try something else.  I went to Costco and bought a big package of Rainier cherries...my favorite, and I went to work!

I pitted and cut up the cherries.  Then I washed all my jars and lids.

After that, I measured out my pectin, sugar and lemon juice.  I also got the water boiling in the canner for the water bath.  

Mmmmm....jam! 

I learned that you have to do a lot of stirring.  You are supposed to get the jam boiling, and it takes a while to get to that point.  I stirred a lot to keep it from burning.  

But finally, I got all the jam into my jars, and put them in the canner.  For my first outing, all of my jars popped except for one.  The recipe yielded four, 8 oz. jars.  Hubster and I tasted the jam.  We decided it was very sweet...almost too sweet, but still yummy.  Two days later, I had enough figs to make my fig jam.  Instead of using sugar, I used juice as my sweetener.  This recipe yielded five, 8oz. jars.  This time, all the lids popped!  We decided to open one jar to taste the jam.  I really liked it, but I feel like it tasted more like juice than figs.  I already have enough figs to make another batch, so I think this time I'll try part sugar, part juice and see how it turns out.  My goal is to make enough jam to give away as Christmas presents. 

Making jam is fun.  I feel so very domestic!  But, I'm learning that it's a lot of trial and error.  If you've got any suggestions, I'm all ears!