Recipe: Plum Jam (3)

Posting one recipe for spiced plum jam plus 2 other
plum jams that looked interesting. The spiced jam
called for sealing with paraffin -- the same method
your grandmother might have used. I'd suggest
using a boiling water bath instead; you may want to
check with your local extension office or canning
book for the best directions for this jam, or look at
similar recipes (and probably leave 1/4" head
space). I hope the first one is close to your
grandmother's. Let us know how it turns out.Spiced Plum Jam

3# ripe plums (unpeeled)
1/2 c. water
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 t. cinnamon
7-1/2 c. sugar
1/2 bottle Certo

Halve, pit and cut up plums. Mix with water, lemon
juice and spices. Put in saucepan and bring to boil.
Simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Measure 4-1/2 cups
of plum mixture into a large saucepan. Add sugar
and mix well. Over high heat, bring to full rolling
boil. Boil hard one minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in Certo at once. Stir
and skim for 5 minutes, using metal spoon. Ladle
into sterilized jars, filling to within 1/8" of top. (If not processed in a boiling water bath, store in refrigerator after they are cooled.) Yield: 8-9 pints.

Plum Raspberry Jam

4# red plums
1 qt. red raspberries
5 c. sugar
1 t. cloves or to taste
1 t. cinnamon or to taste
1/2 t. cardamon or to taste

Pit and chop plums; do not peel. Mash with potato
masher as they cook down, over medium heat. Add
raspberries and spices. Cook until thick by boiling
off excess water. Add sugar. Boil until jelling point.
Use a cool stainless spoon to test jelling. Bottle in
sterilized jelly jars. Process in boiling water bath for
15 minutes.

Plum Nutty Jam

4 c. prepared fruit (about 2-1/2# ripe plums)
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
1 1/2 t. grated orange peel (optional)
6 c. sugar
1 box Sure-Jell pectin

Prepare the fruit; pit (do not peel) about 2-1/2
pounds of fully ripe plums. Cut and chop very fine.
Measure 4 cups into a very large saucepan. Add
orange juice, rind and nuts; mix well. Then make
into jam. Measure sugar and set aside.**

(**Admittedly poor directions; I typed this as it was
written. Jam makers will know how to take it from
here . . . I liked this one for the different
ingredients.)