To begin with you need lots of peaches. We had a total of about 20 pounds, but some were much larger than others. The ones pictured here were the largest & I found it very difficult to leave them alone for this recipe....(I did eat one)This item is very necessary to protect your light-colored clothing when canning. Fruit & vegie juices stain in case you have no experience with that. You can probably tell this has been in a drawer for quite some time so I didn't model it for you. (calling all quilter friends, I need a "cute" apron pattern fast!
Something that helps a lot with preparing your fruits is good ol' electricity of which I had none to blanch the skins off of my peaches. So I did it the way my great, great, great ? grandmother would have done I suppose --paring knife. Pictured here is my emergency lighting which is required for my daycare license. Power went out after a pretty strong storm rolled through Saturday.
Food processor got good use
So did the slow cooker. We added ground cloves, brown sugar, cinnamon & allspice to our mix. It cooked for well over 12 hours to reduce to half. Non-stick cookware is my friend.
Here I'm getting ready to heat up water for the hot-water bath, and another pan to heat up the jars, lids & rings. The skillet is just there cause it makes a good spot to rest the jars. It's not needed for the recipe.
All that preparation & you only have to leave them in the water for 10 minutes! We ended up with 6 pints of peach butter & many curious family members that evening (Father's Day) as to "how does it taste?" Well, they'll just have to come back over for dinner to find out. :)
