Jam Day!

I made a batch of jaboticaba-calamansi jam today. I am experimenting with using Sure-Jell pectin for use in low sugar or no sugar recipes. I read the instructions the pectin came with & decided to use the directions given for making cooked blueberry jam which had the nearest fruit:sugar ratio that I have been using which is about 1 cup chopped fruit to 2/3 cup sugar; the usual is 1:1. The big difference is that instead of cooking the fruit for an hour or so in order for the natural pectin to be triggered, I only cooked the fruit-sugar mixture for about 15 minutes. It set up nicely! And has a much fruitier taste than my previous jams with the same amount of sugar. From 4 pounds jaboticaba with 1 pound calamansi I made 26 quarter pint jars (4 ounces each). I have enough jaboticaba & calamansi for 2 more batches of jam but I only have 14 jars left out of the 40 that I had ordered earlier; I made another order with Amazon today for 2 more cases of 40-quarter pint jars. Although I try to support local businesses, it costs me almost the same amount to buy a dozen quarter pint jars from the local store as it does for me to buy 40 through Amazon Prime. 

Twenty-six 4 oz jars plus enough for a slice of toast!

My next experiment using the Sure-Jell pectin will be to reduce the amount of sugar in spite of what the instructions say. Even though it says this pectin is for "less or no sugar needed recipes," none of the instructions provided use less sugar than what I have already determined can be used when cooking the fruit without added pectin for 1 hour. Last year I did try a 1:1/2 ratio with no pectin but it was a little runny. The instructions, however, warn against using less sugar than directed or it, "WILL RESULT IN SET FAILURES". (Yes, the warning was in all caps.) The only "no sugar" recipe provided is for using Splenda instead of sugar but I don't really want to do that. I also ordered some Pomona pectin which uses a calcium solution to aid the setting of the pectin & will be experimenting with it in future batches of jam.

In the Central Pacific, there is an area of low pressure about 900 miles southeast of Hilo. It is forecast to have a less than 20% chance of becoming a more organized tropical depression over the next 7 days as it moves westerly at about 15 to 20 mph.

Tropical Storm Irwin is still in the Eastern Pacific basin. Its west-northwesterly movement is at about 10 mph & it is forecast to enter the Central Pacific basin sometime on Thursday. Irwin is expected to lose speed & become a tropical depression at about the time it crosses in to the Central Pacific basin.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Deb! A me ka Hauʻoli lā Hoʻomanaʻo makahiki kanakolu e Umi & Brian! A me ka Hauʻoli lā Hoʻomoana makahiki ʻelima e Diann & Robert!