Peach Jelly
I’ve not made one jar of jelly, preserves, jam or butters this summer. That is a very strange thing for me to say since I typically put up a lot of those sweet jars of goodness for us to enjoy through the coming winter.
I just haven’t had time to do the things I normally do, but thankfully I did more than enough last year so we still have a few jars on the canning shelves and I have a few jars of canned juice and berries I can use to make jelly when I find time —even it it’s when the cold wind is blowing out my window.
Mine and Jim’s cookbook, “Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food – Recipes & Stories from Mountain Kitchens” has a whole chapter on jellies, jams, and butters. Here’s an excerpt from the chapter.
JELLIES, JAMS, AND FRUIT BUTTERS
As an adornment for cathead biscuits, filling for some types of layer cakes, topping for pancakes, or used in a variety of other fashions, what Appalachian folks typically describe with the generic catch-all word “preserves” has long been of culinary significance. The preserve part is critical, because the recipes that follow offer a cross-section of ways of utilizing the goodness of fruits and berries long after their short season of ripe, fresh availability has come and gone. It is also worth mentioning some of the tools of the jam and jelly making trade that come in handy. A fine sieve works well to remove seeds. It is common for foam to form on top as jelly juice boils. It can be skimmed off with a homemade wooden skimmer somewhat similar to those you find in paint stores (just be sure the wood you use is suitable). Alternatively, adding a teaspoon of butter at the outset of cooking helps decrease foam.
Our cookbook also has jelly recipes in a couple of other chapters. If you’d like to pick up a copy please visit this page.
Over the years I’ve shared many of those recipes here on Blind Pig and The Acorn. Here’s a few of them.
Last night’s video: Hot Weather and Tree Rattlers in the Mountains of Appalachia.
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My Nanny made the best fig preserves you’ve ever put in your mouth. She had a fig tree which bore a lot of fruit. The figs were preserved whole and there was nothing better for breakfast than fig preserves on a piece of toast. Good eatin!
I grew up eating fried potato sandwiches. I was always hanging around with my mother in the kitchen, so at about age 9 or10 she allowed me to fry the thin slabs of potato until they were golden.I had two slices of bread with yellow mustard ready, the slabs of hot potato were laid on both pieces of bread, a shake or two of salt, then the sandwich was closed. As I poured myself a tall glass of cold milk, the sandwich
steamed. Oh it was sooo good…I still have one now and then…and I will soon be 80.
I love all kinds of jellies. I didn’t know about yhe butter trick. I’ll remember that . we gave2 big pear trees a d hope to make some pear jelly and pear honey.Thoughts and prayers for granny. Bless her heart. A sweet soul.
mama made pear preserves from an old time pear tree that you could see through one side, it made pears anyway, the best ever God bless you friends of Appalachia, send me a jar of that jelly it would make my day to have some good food jelly from Appalachia! ❤️❤️❤️
Should say sneak my mother’s 56 Chevy out…
I am no longer able to can anymore, it’s just too much for me. I miss making jams and jellies. I used to make a half dozen different kinds each year. One year I even won second place at the county fair for my strawberry jam. The last time I made jam was two years ago. I made Tipper’s Dandelion Jelly. It was superb. I gave almost all of it to family and friends. I enjoy all of your videos, but I especially love your canning videos. Thanks for sharing all of that joy!
God bless you with healing and health in Jesus name,
Is it just me or does anyone else wonder how many canning jars Tipper has? 🙂
Prayers for Miss Louzine and all the Wilsons and Pressleys today
God’s Blessings to all . . .
I’ve always enjoyed homemade jams, jellies and preserves. In your video last night, you mentioned pepper jelly and yes, it’s so good with cream cheese and crackers. You and Matt also sure have a wonderful bounty of green beans. I so enjoy seeing all the varieties you have planted. Continued prayers for Granny and all of you especially today. I remember mama telling me that the Lord never gives you more than you can carry but I tell you sometimes our shoulders sure do get mighty heavy.
Amen!
I picked few dewberries earlier this year. They were growing in with the blackberries. They are juicier than blackberries and have a better taste in my opinion. I mixed them in with the blackberries because I didn’t have enough of them on their own.
I haven’t made any jelly this year. I am hoping to make apple butter and apple jelly this fall along with pie filling and apple sauce. I made the wild violet jelly, year before last and it’s really good. The black berries around here haven’t done much. We have had cooler than usual summer here in Old Beech Mt.
Everything is late this year it looks like. Better late than never right? LOL God Bless and I always enjoy your videos!
I haven’t made any jelly this year. I am hoping to make apple butter and apple jelly this fall along with pie filling and apple sauce. I made the wild violet jelly, year before last and it’s really good. The black berries around here haven’t done much. We have had cooler than usual summer here in Old Beech Mt.
Everything is late this year it looks like. Better late than never right? LOL God Bless and I always enjoy your videos!
Praying for Granny and all of you today. We just need a miracle. Bless all of you.
I learned a better way to pick blackberries from a neighbor. I saw him picking with both hands, with his bucket resting high on his chest from a strap around his neck. Made perfect sense to me. I had never seen that method in use. I went home and duplicated his suspended berry bucket.
My husband fashioned a berry picking bucket out of a tall Folgers coffee “can” and some sort of strap. he will be 82 in January. Our daughter in law told me to soak the berries in salted water…for a few minutes…to kill any critters that might hitchhike along with the berries as they came into the kitchen.
I thought the berries were sweetened by the salted water, but after rinsing they were tart again.
Jesus please touch sweet Granny & strengthen her dear family. In Jesus name.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the analogy of jelly or jam as an adornment to a biscuit. Adornments are worn on the outside! Jelly and jam go inside the biscuit not on it. A properly prepared biscuit does not outwardly reveal its cherished cache.
I’m ahead of you in the production of jelly although I realize I will soon be a figure quickly fading in your rearview mirror. I made six half pint jars of blackberry jelly. One jar each I gave to my two children and two I sent to my dearest friend, due to arrive today. One I reserved for myself. So far I have only tasted the scrapings from the pot it was cooked in. I thought it was good, my kids thought it was good and I’ll be waiting to hear from my friend.
As you know I like to experiment with my food. I didn’t use all the blackberries I picked right away. Instead I washed and individually froze them on a tray. Once they were rock hard I vacuum sealed them and put them back in the freezer. Freezing causes the water inside the cells of most foods to expand and bust open, releasing their juice. The vacuum removes most of the air, eliminating freezer burn. I am hoping that once I am ready to make more jelly, I can thaw them and much of the juice will have been pulled by the vacuum from the berries and can be poured right out of the bag. Or, since the berries are sealed in a bag they can be mashed, smashed or otherwise coerced to release the remainder of the juice.
Imagine mostly eliminating the need for forcing through a sieve or twisting through a cloth bag to produce juice. Perhaps it’s just a pipe dream. It doesn’t matter, the enjoyment is in trying something new and sharing it with others!
I haven’t made any jellies so far either, but I’ve canned some apple butter. Found some apples at a produce stand while traveling through VA and bought a basket. They said they were Summer Rambo apples. They said the apples tasted like a combination of Granny Smith and gala apple, I think. I guess mine weren’t ripe enough because they were very tart. I cooked them up anyway and just had to add a little extra sugar. They did cook up nice and the apple butter is delicious. I also made apple pie filling. My husband is a big apple butter and apple pie man, so I make it basically for him.
Prayers for all of you today. Go quietly on and trust and rest in Jesus. Take care and God bless ❣️
Have you ever made “Red Bud” jelly in the spring? It taste much like other flower jellies…more of the lemon juice than the flower really but it is a beautiful shade of pink/purple and is so pretty on the shelf. LOL I love looking at my canned goods almost as much as using them and putting them up.
Darlene-I never have 🙂
I have Darlene. I made some this past spring when the Redbug was on. My youngest grandson just ate my last jar the other day. It has alot of health benefits yo it. We love it.
Tipper, I have used your recipe for dandelion and wild violet jelly and both turned out great. I still have several jars of pear preserves I made using your recipe. The high wind we had during the spring took my best pear tree down. The fruit was small but so sweet and juicy. My daughter used to accuse me of feeding the kids candy when they ate the sweet pears and went home wired up. The huge pear tree I have left has huge fruit that never gets soft and is sort of bland tasting. They are not my choice for making jelly or preserves.
Granny was on my mind first thing this morning. Tipper, try not to worry and please find comfort in knowing we are all praying for your family.
sending prayers up for granny today and everyday.❤️
Those jars of peach jelly look amazing! Y’all are making me hungry! Keeping all of you in my prayers today Tipper ❤️
I enjoy making jams and jellies, especially blackberry jam (with the seeds). I made some cinnamon apple jelly a few years ago and some pineapple upside down jam, both were very good. I’ve also made blueberry and strawberry, so good. Your peach jelly looks yummy! We are going to the orchard to get peaches so hopefully I can make some peach jam (I love the chunks of peaches in the jam).
Thinking of you all today. God is FAITHFUL!
I love making jelly too. I haven’t bought a jar of jelly for years. One year I made corn cob jelly. and it was good to the taste and brilliant as sunshine. Our corn patch has been blown over twice by the storms this season, but they’re still alive and kicking.
I don’t see how you’ve had time to scratch with the death and sickness in the family.
Hard Times Come Again No More!
Tipper, I’d have to say it’s been a tough year on you and yours. There’s been wonderful things too like the launch of your “worldwide” successful cookbook and book tour! Now with your mother’s health not up to snuff, it’s bound to wear a gal plumb out at times. I’d like to brag, but there are many days I pray it through just to put one foot in front of the other. The older I get I see there’s only ever been one who’s our help, strength, charger and EVERYTHING. Many prayers go with you and granny today and the care team who will be doing some testing on your dear mother! I’ve prayed and prayed it all goes well today!!! Much love in our Lord Jesus and many blessings today and always for you and your family!!!!
My mother and grandmother (mother’s mother) would make jam, jelly or preserves from either wild or fruit they grew. They would make apple jelly or dry apples from green apples grew on a “horse apple” tree. The apples were no good for anything else. I never knew knew them to make pepper jelly or any from flowers or other such things. My favorite preserves of all were citron preserves made from volunteers citrons that would come back up each year. You know I now look back to my childhood and now realize how much better the food was when everything we ate (at least for poor country folks) was either home grown or preserved food (jellies, vegetables, and meats) and that had only been preserved with a few simple items such as sugar, salt or vinegar. How many remember how good the fried chicken tasted that had been fried in a black cast iron frying pan and hog lard from a hog grown and rendered out by your family. After it got cold there would be white specks on it from the cold hog lard.
I have been praying even during the night for Granny today and also for her family. I have experienced the things Tipper is now going through with both mine and my wife’s family and know how stressful it can be.
The jams, jellies, preserves and butters I knew growing up were made without added sugar and pectin, aka Sure Jell. My mother and her mother made them using the natural fruit sugars and pectin in the fruit. They couldn’t afford to buy Dixie Crystals and/or Sure Jell so they preserved their fruit as it had been done for hundreds and thousands of years. When pectin and refined sugar became affordable and available they adopted them but still retained some of the old ways. The new methods produced a inferior product but were much easier to make. Roughly equal amounts of juice and sugar and a little box of powder is all you need. Follow the instructions on the box and you have jelly.
I watched my mother make apple and peach butter and have made my own. The ingredient list, if there was one, on the peach butter would be: “peaches”. On apple butter would be: “apples, spices”. No added pectin, no added sugar, nor reason not to make it.
I believe you could make jelly with just water, sugar and pectin but I haven’t tried it yet.
Your discussion of jams, jellies and preserves calls to my mind my grandma’s blackberry jelly and especially her pear preserves. They were absolutely the best that I’ve ever eaten. She had a large pear tree that grew big hard grainy pears that she used to make preserves. I’m not sure what variety of pear tree it was. Sadly, both my grandma and her pear tree are gone.
Tipper, send me a jar of that jelly please, ❤️, God bless Granny with love care and protection and healing and health in Jesus name I ask this blessing for Granny, Amen . my friends dad had heart surgery for blockages, they opened him up and closed him up, stopped up with calcium, after laying round the hospital 2 weeks they have put him in ICU, God help Mike Evans, he needs a miracle ❤️
It was so nice to meet you and your family at the book signing Saturday. Praying for all of you today.
I made apple scrap jelly last year for the first time. It turned out a little thin but has a good taste and it was awesome to use the apple scraps to make it. The rest of the apples themselves were used for canning applesauce and pie filling. This year, I think the squirrels have made off with more apples than they left. It’s a good thing I put up some last year, as we still have a few jars. The peaches you all picked the other evening look so delicious. I am sure you will make some yummy preserves with those.
I will keep you in my mind today as your Mama has her testing. Prayers for you all
P.S.: Are the tree rattlers Matt spoke of in your video last night really rattlesnakes? If so, that is so scary.
Brenda-Matt was teasing 🙂 The noise was a really loud jar fly 🙂
Well I should have known he was teasing or you would probably have high-tailed it outta there. Lol. I like chicken eggs and one of my granddaughters likes duck eggs, but darn it, we haven’t been able to find any porcupine eggs lately.
This is a sure fire method for finding porcupine eggs, just take an English Setter or other long haired dog out hunting or if you don’t like hunting, turn it loose and just let it run in a field grown up with weeds later on this fall. You may even find an added bonus, beggar lice. I noticed you mentioned liking chicken and duck eggs but left out buzzard eggs. I have a neighbor that raises chickens and sells eggs. Along with the normal brown or white shells she has some eggs with a greenish blue color. I tease her about these being buzzard eggs, those buzzards I saw in the road at her house one morning did not help her out with my teasing at all.
Brenda, be careful, before long Matt aka The Deer Hunter will be trying to sell “porcupine eggs” to the city or northern folks.
I love making jellies and jams! This year I made strawberry and grape jellies, both are delicious. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to make some blackberry jam. Our vines are finally starting to produce, but this year it was just a handful of berries. But the plants are putting out a lot of canes, so next year should be a bummer crop.
Thinking about and praying for your mother today as she goes through her tests.
Think of you all today!
Oh! How I wish I had the energy to make homemade jam, yogurt, bread, etc., right now! I must be on the mend – all I can think about his homemade foods!!! I am going to attempt to make a meat pie for supper tonight. Pray I have the strength to make the sauce for the filling! I know that’s a very simple thing to make, it’s the standing there and stirring that will be the hardest!!!
I have been praying all night for you guys, and for the drs and medical personnel today. Please give your Mom a hug and encouragement from me today! Thank you!
Donna. : )
You poor dear lady, all of you are daily in our prayers during your time of grieving and worries. Tipper, these troubling times seem tougher on you than Matt or the girls. Maybe they just don’t show it. Matt is more animated and vocal during your popsicle talking time. I have to love that, and the girls are finding their joy again. Not a day goes by when my wife and I visit your channels to see what’s happening in your part of Appalachia. I don’t know, and I sure don’t want to be presumptuous, but I do wonder if your Pap were still alive, him telling you to get out of your slump, girl, and get back into life. Transition times are tough, girl, but as Clairee Belcher said in Steel Magnolias, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger!” The best blessings from above be to you and yours as the guiding light of our Lord and Savior showers abundant love from above. ~ an Ozark Mountains Missouri Hillbilly
Enjoyed last night’s YouTube. No quail here anymore either. Will be thinking of y’all today.
My Mother-in-law taught me how to make the juice getting ready to make jelly and running out of time to make the jelly. In her teachings she said to put the juice in the fridge and/or freezer til I could. It really does work. As far as the pear stuff, I have no idea what kind of pears I used to make the jam, but they were as hard as concrete and never do soften up. My hubby rigged up an electric screwdriver, much like you do an apple peeler and we peeled them, I chunked them, and continued like you do with the sugar. I let them sweat, so to speak, all night and slowly cooked them the next day. I then continued the same way you do with water bathing and they are GOLD. I do think I will have to try the way you do with slicing so to make a cake like you do with the apples. Also, I made your dill pickles yesterday, even though it was Sunday and they ALL sealed…yipppeeee…Praying for Granny and all you guys. God Bless
When I was a kid late 40’s early 50’s it was kid’s job to pick berries for jelly, jam, preserves or for canning. We had blackberries, strawberries and dewberries. Hardly ever see a dewberry these days. Later early teens I would desk my mother’s ‘56 Chevy out and drive up to the tower on Rocky Top and pick huckleberries.