Peach & Plum Ginger Jam

5-6 pounds total of peaches and plums, any ratio you prefer

juice of one medium to large lemon (about 3-4 Tb)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 whole cloves

1/3 cup chopped candied ginger

a tiny pinch of salt

Prepare four half pint jars, their lids, and a canning pot. (Boil the jars and lids to sanitize before using) Place a small plate in the freezer (you're going to use this to test the set of your jam later!).

Wash your fruit, then pit, peel and chop them. Don't peel the plums, the peels are wonderful in this jam. If you like bigger chunks in your jam chop into bigger pieces! You should end up with 4-5 cups of chopped fruit.

Combine chopped fruit, juice, cloves, ginger, salt, and sugar in a large, non-reactive pot. Make sure there is enough room for the mixture to just about double. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Boil the jam over high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring often to keep it from burning. (I like to crush the larger chunks of fruit while cooking, to make the jam just a bit smoother.) To test if your jam is ready, spoon a bit of the jam out onto that plate you put in the freezer, then put the plate back in the freezer for 5 minutes. Pull it back out and gently push across the top of the jam. If it wrinkles up at your touch, it's ready!

Remove the pot from the heat, find those two cloves, and discard them. Ladle into prepared jars. Wipe rims clean, put the prepared lids and rings on tightly and process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. (If you don't have a canner, this batch is so small you could use a large pot! Just make sure to put something in the bottom to keep the jars up off the bottom of the pot, and away from each other, some kind of rack, or small balls of foil work too!)

Remove jars from canner and allow to cool 24 hours on the counter before opening. Check the tops of the jars, make sure those lids are sucked down tight!