Yooper Food

Jams

Apple, Apple Jam

Peel and core the apples, cut in thin slices and put them in a preserving kettle with ¾-pound white sugar to every pound of fruit. Add (tied up with a piece of muslin) a few cloves, a small piece of ginger and a thin rind of lemon. Stir on a quick fire for half an hour. --1881

Apple, Apple Butter Jam

• 1 peck (2 gallons) apples
• 2 quarts cider
• 4 quarts water
• 3 lbs. sugar
• cinnamon
• cloves

Wash the apples, and cut into small pieces, placing them in a kettle. Add the water, and boil until the apples are soft. Rub through a sieve. Boil the cider down halfway, then add hot apple pulp, sugar, and cook until nearly done, while stirring constantly. Add the ground spices and cook until it is thick enough to spread without running. Pour into jars and seal with paraffin.

Apricot, Apricot Jam

• 1 lb. dried apricots
• ¾ cup apricot water
• 1 orange
• 1½ cups sugar

Wash the apricots, soak overnight in enough cold water to cover. Slice the orange fine, and cut each slice into small pieces. If desired, add a cup of seedless raisins. Mix well with sugar and water, and cook slowly until thick, which should take about an hour. Turn into jelly glasses, and cover well.

Blackberry, Frozen Blackberry Jam

• 6 cups (1½ quarts) blackberries, fully ripe
• 5¼ cups sugar
• ¾ cup water
• 1 package (1¾ oz.) powdered fruit pectin

Use only perfect, fully ripe blackberries. Crush the berries, one cup at a time, until they are finely chopped. This should give you 3 cups crushed berries. Place two cups of crushed berries into a bowl, add sugar, and blend thoroughly. Let stand for ten minutes. Combine the water and the pectin in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil for one minute, while stirring constantly. Mix in the fruit and continue stirring for three minutes. Ladle at once into ½-pint glass or plastic freezer containers that have been scalded and drained. Cover and let stand at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate until the mixture jells (about 24 hours). Label, date, and freeze for up to 6 months. Makes about 6½ pints.

Blueberry, Spiced Blueberry Jam

• 3 cups ripe blueberries
• 2 tsp. lemon peel, grated
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3½ cups sugar
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• 3 oz. liquid fruit pectin

Wash, drain, and mash the blueberries, to make 2¼ cups mashed. Combine all ingredients, except pectin, in a large saucepan and mix thoroughly. Bring to a full, rolling boil and boil hard for one minute, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the pectin. Skim off foam with a metal spoon. Stir and skim for five minutes, or until slightly cooled and fruit is not floating. Pour into sterilized jars and seal with hot parrafin. Makes about 4½ cups.

Cherry, Cherry Jam

To every pound of fruit, weight before stoning, allow ½-pound of sugar; to every six pounds of fruit allow one pint of red currant juice, and to every pint of juice one pound of sugar. Weigh the fruit before stoning, and allow half the weight of sugar; stone the cherries and boil them in a preserving pan until nearly all the juice is dried up; then add the sugar, which should be crushed to powder, and the currant juice, allowing one pint to one pound of sugar. --1881

Cherry, Ground Cherry Jam

Remove the husks from ground cherries. Make a syrup of 1½ cups sugar, 3 cups water, and the juice of 2 lemons; boil for five minutes, add enough cherries to come to the top of the syrup. Boil slowly until cherries are tender and clear. Can, and seal in sterilized jars as with any other fruit. Or, in place of lemon, add a third as many tart apples and cook until the apples and ground cherries are thick and clear.

Mixed, Blueberry & Apple Butter Jam

• 1 quart blueberries
• 1 quart apple pulp
• 3 lbs. sugar

Use tart apples. Remove the stems, cut into quarters, add enough water to cover, and cook until soft; put through a strainer. Place 1 quart of apple pulp, along with the blueberries, and an equal measure of sugar, in a kettle, and cook until the mixture is clear and thick. Place in clean, hot jars, and seal. Note: May substitute raspberries for blueberries in this recipe.

Mixed, Blueberry & Crabapple Jam

• 3 quarts crabapples, chopped
• 1 quart blueberries
• 6 lbs. sugar

Cut the crabapples into quarters, remove the cores, but do not pare. Place the crabapple pieces in a kettle and chop fine. Add enough water to almost cover the apples, then cool for ten minutes. Add the berries, and the sugar, and cook until clear. Pour into clean, hot glasses. Let cool, and cover with hot paraffin

Mixed, Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam

• 1 lb. red-stalked rhubarb
• 1½ quarts fully ripe strawberries
• ¼ cup water
• 6½ cups sugar
• 3 oz. liquid pectin

Wash the rhubarb, but do not peel. Slice rhubarb thin or chop. Combine rhubarb and water in a saucepan, cover, and simmer until rhubarb is tender, which should only take a minute or so. This should give you 1 cup of cooked rhubarb. Next, wash and stem the strawberries, and crush them, to make about 2½ cups crushed. Mix the fruits in a large kettle and add the sugar. Bring them to a full, rolling boil, with bubbles over the entire surface, and boil hard for one minute, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the pectin. Skim, then ladle into hot, sterilized ½-pint jars. Seal the jars and process in boiling water bath for five minutes. Makes 7-8 pints.

Mixed, Strawberry & Raspberry Jam

• 1 cup crushed strawberries (1 pint whole)
• 1 cup crushed raspberries (1 pint whole)
• ½ tsp. lemon peel, grated
• 4 cups sugar
• 3 oz. liquid fruit pectin

Mix the berries and the sugar in a large glass or plastic bowl, and let it stand at room temperature for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in the lemon peel, the lemon juice, and the pectin. Stir for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Spoon the mixture into freezer containers, leaving ½-inch headspace. Seal immediately. Let stand at room temperature until set, which should be about 24 hours. Refrigerate up to three weeks, or freeze for up to a year. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator or at room temperature before serving. Makes about 5 ½-pint jars.

Peach, Peach Jam

• 3¾ lbs. ripe peaches
• 2 one-inch squares lemon peel, cut into thin strips, with no white
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 oz. liquid pectin
• 7 cups sugar
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. allspice

Peel, pit, and slice peaches, one cup at a time, blending them until finely chopped; stir down as necessary. Process lemon peel with the first cup of peaches. Repeat as needed to obtain 4¼ cups chopped fruit. Pour fruit into a large saucepan, and stir in the sugar, the lemon juice, and the spices. Quickly bring it to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly, until bubbles form over the surface. Boil hard for one minute, still stirring, then remove from heat, and stir in the pectin. Skim foam from the surface, if necessary. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars to within ½-inch of top. Seal and process in boiling water bath for five minutes. Makes about 8½ pints.

Plum, Plum Jam

Wash and pick over plums, removing the stones. If Damsons are used, cover stones with water and cook separately. Strain and add juice to plum pulp. Measure pulp and, to each cup, add from ¾ to 1 cup sugar, depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit. Place in a preserving kettle, and boil slowly, stirring constantly in order to prevent burning. When clear and thick, put in jelly glasses or jars.

Raspberry, Frozen Raspberry Jam

• 6 cups (1½ quarts) raspberries, fully ripe
• 5¼ cups sugar
• ¾ cup water
• 1 package (1¾ oz.) powdered fruit pectin

Use only perfect, fully ripe raspberries. Crush the berries, one cup at a time, until they are finely chopped. This should give you 3 cups crushed berries. Place two cups of crushed berries into a bowl, add sugar, and blend thoroughly. Let stand for ten minutes. Combine the water and the pectin in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil for one minute, while stirring constantly. Mix in the fruit and continue stirring for three minutes. Ladle at once into ½-pint glass or plastic freezer containers that have been scalded and drained. Cover and let stand at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate until the mixture jells (about 24 hours). Label, date, and freeze for up to 6 months. Makes about 6½ pints.

Strawberry, Frozen Strawberry Jam

• 4 cups (1 quart) strawberries, fully ripe
• 4 cups sugar
• ¾ cup water
• 1 package (1¾ oz.) powdered fruit pectin

Use only perfect, fully ripe strawberries. Crush the berries, one cup at a time, until they are finely chopped. This should give you 2 cups crushed berries. Place two cups of crushed berries into a bowl, add sugar, and blend thoroughly. Let stand for ten minutes. Combine the water and the pectin in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil for one minute, while stirring constantly. Mix in the fruit and continue stirring for three minutes. Ladle at once into ½-pint glass or plastic freezer containers that have been scalded and drained. Cover and let stand at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate until the mixture jells (about 24 hours). Label, date, and freeze for up to 6 months. Makes 4½ pints.

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