SUMMER JAMS

A large branch from the next door neighbors huge fig tree cracked under its burden of figs and fell over our side of the fence. Lucky me! We have our own smaller version fig tree on our side of the fence, a seedling that we allowed to grow and is now about 12 ft tall and about 10 ft wide. They do grow quickly! But our tree is only maybe 2 summers old now and the fruit it bore this year was brown and bitter,with a pale center of seeds. We learned this particular fig species puts out two crops, the first, small and bitter fruit, followed by a second crop of bigger, light lemon lime green fruit with a deep pink center of seeds...very sweet and yummy...skin and all!
So we harvested a big bowl of the figs and after deciding on a basic recipe I whipped up a batch of about 12 half pint jars. It is delicious!

The following day, my husband, took advantage of my jam-making mood and brought home fresh strawberries and a big bunch of jalepenos. I spent that day making first Strawberry Jalepeno Jam, and then plain Jalepeno Jam. Again, we were delighted at the results. The jalepeno jam is especially good on warm cornbread, served with homemade chili. I also used some of it to glaze grilled chicken breasts, what a treat! I'm sure I'll find all kinds of ways to serve up these delicious jams.