Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Making Strawberry~Fig Preserves



Our fig tree had more figs than we could eat this year so I decided to make preserves. Neil and I, both, remember the wonderful tasting strawberry fig preserves our mothers made when we were kids, so with some instructions from our County Extension Service I tried my hand at it. I'll show how I did it ~ the trials and the triumphs.

Step 1: Wash jelly jars in hot, soapy water.



Step 2: Sterilize the jars and lids.



Step 3: Wash, peel, and mash figs. Well, now that's what the instructions said to do but it didn't start out too well for me. My figs were very ripe, meaning very soft. I don't know if you've ever tried to peel a soft fig before but...



...the fig and I quickly became enemies. After working at this for about ten minutes I had about three little "blops" in the bottom of my big pot and knew at this rate it would take me all day just to peel them. I decided to just pull out the stems and forget the peeling. So, after pulling out the stems, I just mashed them up and went on with the next step.



Step 4: Measure 3 cups mashed figs into a large, thick-bottom pan and add two 3-oz. boxes of strawberry gelatin and 3 cups of sugar.



Step 5: Heat to a boil. Lower heat and boil slowly 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

Step 6: Fill hot jars immediately with fig mixture leaving a 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and add lids.



Step 7: Process half-pints in a boiling water-bath canner 5 minutes. This makes about 6 half-pints.



Step 8: Scrape the pot and taste-test your finished product. I put a spoonful over some plain yogurt and sat down for a yummy snack.



Guess what we had for supper that night? We had hot, made from scratch, buttermilk biscuits, homemade strawberry-fig preserves with a side of bacon and a pot of coffee...Southern eating at its best!

Linked to Show and Tell Fridays
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16 comments:

  1. My Mammaw always did fig preserves. Yummo! They definitely were not peeled. I bet your batch of preserves turned out delish! Enjoy! Best wishes, Tammy

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  2. My husband would like that very much , he loves figs. When we lived near the South of France, we had two huge fig trees in the garden, which made him a very happy person!
    Thank you for your visit.

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  3. That looks delicious! Thanks for stopping by my blog recently and your sweet comment. Sorry it has taken me so long to visit. I'm following you now. So glad to find your blog and I'm looking forward to reading more. Would love it if you'd follow me if you're not already.

    Lisa xoxo
    http://raisingfutureleaders.blogspot.com

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  4. Hi Sherry, Love your blog too! Isn't the Internet full of talented people!! It is so wonderful to find some lovely yummy recipes and other exciting stuff. So inspirational. annabelleserendipity.blogspot.com

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  5. Hi,Thanks for stopping by my blog.Those preserves look oh so delicious.They would go well with the homemade brown bread I baked the other day.
    Blessings,Ruth ❀

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  6. I just dropped by from Troc, Broc and Recup. What a lovely blog. That fig preserve looks gorgeous. Drop by my blog some time, you're always welcome - the kettle is always on!

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  7. Oh I wish you had asked me over for dinner!! I didn't know you could make jam with figs and I love figs fresh and candied or dried. Yum. Love it.
    That would be tedious to peel I'm sure.
    Wonderful pictures and tutorial...
    enjoy..
    and come by and visit when you have some time.
    Judi

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  8. Wish I could have been there to help you with your preserves. Fig preserves are absolutely my very favorite. Store bought, just not the same as some like yours. I would love to have a jar.

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  9. Yummmm!!! That looks so good! Wish I could be there to enjoy it with you. Miss you and love you!

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  10. Oh sounds mouth watering good...can't beat that for breakfast or dinner. Trish

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  11. Oh, Sherry, that is MY kind of supper! Thanks for this great recipe! Twyla

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  12. Oh, YUM! It's 11:00 and I was just thinking about having something sweet to eat! HPS!!!
    Marcia

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  13. Thanks for linking up to our Canning Week Blog Party. this looks delish!!!

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  14. I have never tasted a fresh fig. Isn't that sad? I need to fix that this summer!

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I'm so happy you're leaving me a comment! ~ Sherry