Can-It-Forward with Ball’s: Peach, Nectarine Orange Jam

Somewhere last winter, when it was freezing and record-breaking blizzards were sweeping the country, there was a group of PR people brainstorming canning season.  They probably had a brainstorm brief with an objective along the lines of “Reignite interest in canning among target audience, drive sales of jars and associated equipment.”

I bet they had a ton of viable ideas – mother-daughter canning classes,  save money through canning, etc., but they decided to have a Can-It-Forward Day and went all out … Facebook page, contest, coupons, webisodes, OEO (online editorial outreach),  live event (@Pike’s Place Market, iconic American market, guaranteed crowds, good media market),  of course, a micro site http://www.freshpreserving.com/community/events/can-it-forward.aspx, and many more activities.  And, those PR people, perhaps an agency have been working like crazy and are probably exhausted.  But, they did a good job and sold this person quite a few Ball’s products (although the cool jar lifter on their web site apparently is not sold anywhere in St. Louis … I’ve looked at half a dozen places).  I hope they get a big thank you for their work, too often after great events like this, after the wrap report is complete, it is on to the next project with little (if any) thanks.

Now, on to my part of Can-It-Forward Day, as you know, about three weeks ago I decided to try my hand at canning.  Since then I have made blueberry spiced jam (amazing on plain Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast), strawberry, plum, and apricot. I brought some of it into the office and everyone seemed to like it.  I clearly have the preserving bug.  At the recommendation of friends on Facebook and commenters on this blog, I’ve invested in some cookbooks and am having fun.

On Wednesday, I received a bunch of peaches and nectarines from the coop and thought, this would be a good jam combination.  I considered several recipes, but ended up with a peach, nectarine, orange mix that is like a marmalade almost.   It was roughly based off of this recipe

I started with:

• 3 oranges and 1.5 lemons – chopped finely in the food processor
• 12 nectarines
• 9 peaches
• 2 pounds of sugar (yes, crazy amount)
• ½ cup of Cointreau
• 2 vanilla beans

I then mixed the fruit and sugar together with the vanilla beans and let it set overnight in the fridge.

Then, after hunting down jars this morning  – a long story.  I then brought the fruit to boil on the stove and added the liquor.  The house smelled amazing!  It cooked down slowly, it was probably on the stove for about 90 minutes.

And, it was time to fill jars. The recipe made about 11 half pint jars, with a little leftover for me to enjoy this week.

I think it looks beautiful.  And, provided entertainment for the dogs as the jars “popped” … they stood looking out the backdoor to see what the noise was.  Anyway, happy Can-It-Forward day.

And, one last note, more posts are planned, I’ve gotten behind the last few weeks … and despite all the branding for Ball’s on this post, there was no compensation or free stuff … I even forgot the coupon at home that I downloaded for a few bucks off jars!