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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tooty Fruity!!

fruit If you are friends with me on Facebook then you know that this summer we did a ton of canning. Here’s one of our favorites thus far. We made fruit cocktail. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us Gail! We love it.Fruit1The kids love helping in the kitchen, so I found the perfect projects for them. I didn’t have any cherry pitting tools, so I just found a few small dowel rods. They thought pitting cherries was so much fun. Hard to believe right? Fruit2 Thomas helped me peel the skins of the peaches and sort other fruit as well. He was so proud that he got to help.Fruit3 Once all the fruit was cut we simmered it in a light syrup. The fruity smell in the kitchen was fantastic.Fruit4Then we jarred the fruit and syrup and processed the jars in the canner. Easy peasy. :) Okay, it was a lot of work, but I had great helpers. Fruit5It was completely worth all of the hard work we put into it because now we have the best fruit cocktail saved up for winter. I only wish we had made more. Fruit6

Colorado is known for their peaches, so we stocked up on some vine ripened peaches when they were ready. They are the best tasting peaches; juicy and succulent. It doesn’t get any better.

Here’s the fruit cocktail recipe that Gail so kindly shared with me. It’s definitely a keeper. Try it and your kids will be just like mine. One jar just isn’t enough at meal time. They ate it up like it was candy. Thank you again Gail!

Rosy Fruit Cocktail
Make a light or medium syrup (I just go to my Ball Blue book of canning and use theirs) to equal 5 1/4 cups. Keep hot, but not boiling.
You will need these fruits:
          1  2 lb. pineapple
          3 lbs. peaches
          3 lbs. pears
          1 lb. dark sweet cherries
          1 lb. seedless green grapes
Finely chop pineapple to make 3 cups.
Peel, pit, and cut peaches into cubes to make 8 1/2 cups.
Peel, core, and cut pears into cubes to make 6 1/2 cups.
Halve and pit cherries to make 2 1/2 cups
Remove stems from grapes and measure 3 cups.
Combine all fruit in a 4 - 6 quart Dutch oven or kettle.
Add hot syrup and bring to boiling.
Pack fruit in hot clear jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles with a knife, wipe rims and adjust lids.
Process filled jars in boiling water canner for 20 minutes (half pints or pints). At high altitude I added 10 more minutes.
Remove from canner and cool on racks.
Makes 9 pints.

Stay tuned for more recipes. I am so behind in posting recipes.

8 comments:

  1. That does look yummy . . . and colorful.

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  2. Looks wl delicious gonna try to make this during the weekend. My family will love it

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  3. You may want to check our Vicki's Canning World on Facebook, she posted this recipe with 3 of these pictures 18 hours ago with no credit given to you.

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  4. Can you use apple juice to pack them in vs syrup? Trying to cut some sugar.

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  5. I like to use my pressure cooker since it's faster. Do you have recommentions for the time and pressure?

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  6. Found your recipe this season and am sharing it all over!

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  7. I made this last summer. The taste is delicious but the color faded out of the grapes and cherries. Not very good looking any more. Is there anything I can do next time to prevent this?

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