Plum Crazy

My aunt Lori, the one who owns and runs the beautiful Stage Coach Farm, gave me a bunch of purple plums. So I thought, how could I make something for Christmas with this? Hmm… plums, plums. Sugar plums! So I look up a recipe for sugarplums and it turns out not only are they a candy that would go bad before Christmas. They are not even made with plums. Most recipes call for apricots or dates. So I made spiced plum preserves. I call it preserves because like the strawberry syrup I’m not sure what the consistency will be. That’s what happens when you experiment. Here are the ingredients.

30 plums or 5 cups peeled and chopped (Tip: cut them in half and scoop out the innards with a melon scoop)

3 cups sugar

4 TBSP corn starch

dash nutmeg

dash cloves

big dash cinnamon

little dash ground coriander seed

Mix the sugar and cornstarch and set aside. Boil the plums till it is all juicy. Add sugar mixture and stir occasionally. When it starts bubbling, stir constantly. You’ll want to keep the temp at like 6 or 7. Do this for like 5 minute. Have 3, one pint jars and lids ready and add the spices. Once it’s all goopy it’s done. I suppose if you want it thicker you could cook it for longer but I have never tried it. Now put it in your jars, wipe the edges and seal in boiling water for 30 minutes. For details on sealing, read my older post Looks Like Syrup.

Officially I call it Sugarplum Butter because it has the consistency of apple butter and oh my gosh it is so good. I think it goes best on biscuits. Try it for thanksgiving dinner. Your family will love it.

Looks like it’s Syrup

Hi, I’m Kate. I am so glad my awesome sister Sarah had the idea to make this blog. I can’t tell you how many times I have been taught, guided and inspired by my sister. Now this blog gives us both a chance to do the same for the world. They say that the best way to learn is to teach. I think it goes both ways. So maybe as we try new things, you may learn from our success and likely my failures. Well this is my first time blogging ever, so I’m more than a little nervous. Today I also happen to be canning strawberry syrup (or jelly. We’ll see how it turns out.) My friend Shanna, who will be at the Jacksonville celebrates the arts bazaar with us, inspired me with her delicious strawberry freezer jam. Well, I’ve blended the strawberries with my hand blender and I’m about to put it on the stove. The kids are entertained. Thank you Thomas the tank engine. Uh…

strawberries…sugar…corn starch… Here we go!

Ok, I think I’ve got it. 6 cups sugar. 2 TBSP cornstarch. I’m not sure how many cups of strawberries I used but it was 2 lbs. I just mixed all the ingredients in a sauce pan (don’t do that. Mix the sugar and corn starch first. That was heck getting the clumps out.) and cooked on number 6 or 7 on the dial (can you tell that I’m new at this). I continuously stirred it till it just seemed kind of goopy. I ladled it into jars (one at a time) wiped the edges, put on new Kerr lids and bands, sat them in boiling water for about 20 minutes (my mom says 30, I think it depends on the size of the jar) and removed them when the tops were popped up to were I can’t push them down easely. Now this is not the same as they will be later. As they cool they will loosen and eventually pop down and be sealed. I figured this out last month while canning blueberry pie filling. Give them a day to do this before you remove the lids. I like to put a decorative little peace of fabric under the band (above the lid) to give it a classic flair. I’m still not sure if it will be syrup or jelly. Either one could sell at the Jacksonville farmers market. I’m also going to have breakfast shortcakes, chocolate chip cookies, bran muffins, cornbread muffins and banana bread all made from local southern Oregon grain from the butte creek mill in eagle point Or, eggs from stage farm on Hanley road Or, Oregons Umpqua sweet cream butter and honey from Freeburne’s Honey in central point Or.

By the way. It looks like it’s Syrup.