Josie and I made jam today from some of our 20 pounds of apples picked this weekend. The house smelled like apple pie and the sun was streaming through the kitchen windows as the fence builders were busy outside. (We are finally fixing up our back yard and the work from just two days has already made the house so much brighter!  More about the fence building soon).  Please don’t judge me for the ugly kitchen in the photos…It is on the list of projects.  This recipe was adapted from the Ball Blue Book.  To make your own Apple Maple Jam you will need:

*12 Half-Pint Canning Jars with Seals and Lids

*15 Cups of Peeled, Cored and Chopped Apples (We used a combination of Cortland, Gala and Yellow Delicious)

*6 Cups Sugar (We used Raw Cane Sugar)

*1 Cup Maple Syrup

*2 teaspoons Cinnamon

*1 teaspoon Allspice

*1 teaspoon Nutmeg

*1/2 teaspoon Cloves

*Seeds Scraped from 1 Vanilla Bean

1. Prepare apples and combine all ingredients in large pot.  (This is my favorite apple peeler).

2. Slowly bring to a boil.

3. Stir frequently and cook until jam is thickened to your liking. (Ours took about an hour).

4. Remove from heat and spoon into washed hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.

5. Carefully wipe rims and screw on two-piece caps.

6. Slide jars into warming water and boil for 10 minutes.

7. Remove from water using a jar lifter and allow to cool.

8. Jar tops will depress as they cool.  Any that don’t should be reprocessed or eaten within a few days.

9. We decorated circles of paper, carefully unscrewed lids and placed the circles on top of the sealed tops.  Screw lids can be replaced to hold the papers in place.  Be sure to label each jar with the contents and date.

**This jam is yummy warmed on vanilla ice cream, pancakes or PB&Js.  Store unopened jars in a cool dry place and eat within one year.  Enjoy!