We Make Really Good Tomato Jam while the Boys Are at School

Grape vines ready to harvest at Dry Creek

The sun has moved south; the days have shortened; school has started.  We turn in job applications and wait for calls.  While we wait, we listen to music--John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Paulo Nutini.  And while we listen, we read--Country Gardens, Hobby Farm Home, P.D. James, The Murder Room and Gardening at the Dragon's Gate by Wendy Johnson.  We live off the last of last years wages and take long showers together.  It feels like when we were newlyweds--lots of dreams, some hope, but nothing is for certain, so we cling to each other. 

We harvest the garden and feed the chickens.  We make pickles and jam--really good jam.  Tomato jam, the recipe of which we'll share with our readers.

Marci feeds the chickens

Our first batch of bread and butter pickles

And for now, everything we do, we do together.  It won't last.  It can't last, but while it does, we'll enjoy the last of summer before Eden freezes over.

Marci's Really Good Tomato Jam

Overall, we followed the recipe for plum jam that is in the box of Pectin, replacing the plums with tomatoes and adding spices.  Marci wasn't satisfied with the jam because it didn't taste like her great-grandmother's.  However, two households went through a jar each in a couple of days and everyone raved about how good it was.  Enjoy and post comments to help us convince Marci that this is Really Good Tomato Jam, so that she can move on. 

Half done with my job

Ingredients:

5 3/4 cups of chopped tomatoes (not peeled).
1/4 cup of lemon-lime juice (1 lemon, 2 limes)
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
4 whole cloves
1 pkg. of Pectin
8 1/2 cups of sugar

5 3/4 cups of chopped tomatoes--yum!

Directions:

1.  Bring tomatoes, lemon-lime juice, cinnamon, cloves and Pectin to a full rolling boil.
2.  Quickly add all of the sugar.
3.  Bring back to a boil and cook for four minutes, stirring constantly.
4.  Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars.
5.  Process for 20 minutes.