I rarely buy jam nowadays. I am so impressed with what a little low heat, sugar and fruit can turn into in a matter of an hour or two. I made this jam with a pile of pears from my local farm. The vanilla extract was homemade. The ginger, pineapple and lemons came to my kitchen from far away but were sourced organically by the same local farm who got me those pears.
During this past Thanksgiving, each guest slathered some of this jam on their bread on the day after, along with a big pat of butter. Then each guest went home with a golden-hued jam jar. I’m giving them away this holiday season too, and found a lovely version of Pear Jam from Silverbrook Farm to include in my holiday giftbox.
Pear Pineapple Ginger Jam
Ingredients
12 pears, cleaned, cored, peeled and sliced into 1″ pieces
1 stub of ginger, peeled
1 whole pineapple, cleaned, cored and cut into 1” cubes
1 cup of lemon juice, 4 big lemons juiced
4 1/2 cups of organic sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon orange flower water
Toss all the ingredients into a pot on the stove. Simmer over medium-low heat until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low; simmer until mixture drops thickly from spoon, stirring often, about 1 hour. Remove the ginger carefully. While still hot, pour the jam into small 4-ounce jars and water-bath them according to your own canning process. I water-bathed these jars for about 20 minutes, and then carefully removed the jars to rest on a towel until cool. Label the jars and give away liberally!
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Sounds great! I received a jar of peach ginger jam from a reader this holiday, and it was fantastic – and made from locally grown fruit. It's amazing what a difference fresh ingredients make!