Canning Apricots

This year we were lucky enough that the last few cold snaps didn't cause any harm to the Lone Apricot Tree in the back yard.  I am so glad especially since the apricot jam was such a big hit in our family last year.  We were down to the last jar on the shelf.

 

After my fill of eating more than my fair share off that wonderful old tree I decided I had better get to work and put some in jars.  My middle son, Dalton, volunteered to help me out.  We picked, washed and pitted the fruit.

I decided to make some apricots in light syrup. (And yes, I put the date on the lid)  We used the recipe at the following link www.simplycanning.com/canning-apricots.html which was very helpful.  We found the info at www.gopresto.com/recipes/canning/fruits.php to be very informative as well.  I don't think we could have gone wrong either way. After all was said and done we canned 10 pints in light syrup and 10 half pints of Jalapeno Apricot Jam.

We followed the Apricot Jam recipe from the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving and I just added a few jalapenos from the garden for a sweet and spicy twist.  It went great with our farm fresh eggs, bacon and biscuits this morning. 

We have only picked half the apricots so far and thank goodness, I don't know if we would have ever gotten to bed that night since we didn't start until 7:30 pm anyway.  Dalton and I both agree that we will start in the A.M. on the next batch.