Plink!

There is a sound that I love.  Plink! a few times a year, when the fig bush at Mom's is producing abundantly, I gather figs and make preserves.
Plink!
That is the lovely sound that the jars make when they seal after the water-bath canning process.  I have it down to a science now and all the supplies are ready to go.

For several days, I picked the first figs that were ripe.  They were cut up and put in containers.  The first few went into the freezer for storage. Then I got a rather nice bag full so I knew it was time to just suffer the heat and get into production mode.

Using some of the frozen and the 1.3 liter container that I had from that last bag full,  I started early in the morning.  (Before it gets so hot!) It has been in the 90s all week here in Alabama.  I started the fig mixture cooking and filled the big canning container and started it getting hot - It has to be boiling to insure that the preserves seal and stay good for at least a year.

Today I chose to make Orange Spice Fig Preserves.  So in addition to the ingredients called for in the Faux Strawberry Fig recipe I used some cinnamon and ginger along with a splash of almond flavoring.  Of course I used orange jello to replace the strawberry in the original recipe.  The magic is that you can use any flavor gelatin that you like. (Mine was a "Jell-O" clone -store brand.)

I got eight lovely half pint jars that went into the canner in two batches.

You can see the fig seeds and fibers in the preserves.  It has a nice texture and this batch tastes delicious.  These jars started sealing (Plink!) before I even finished the second batch.

There was less than one jar left in the pot, so after it cools down a bit, it will go in the fridge for immediate use.

Of course I had to scrape the remainder from the pot - and lick the "spoon." So I know it will be delicious.  Yum!

When you prepare food, you can be creative.  When this started years ago (2011) I just used the basic strawberry recipe.  But my creative brain said "You can make them any flavor that you want! Try it." So I did.  I have made orange, grape, pineapple, lime, lime and grape mixed, wild berry, cherry,  chocolate cherry (add cocoa to the mix - it is amazing!) and probably some others.   Oh yes, pickled peach (add spices to peach jello such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) and Lemon Ginger.   Seriously, the possibilities are almost endless.  Can't find the flavor of gelatin?  Buy plain gelatin and add a drink mix flavor to it.  Yes, it works, I have done it.  But I find it easier to use the available gelatin flavors.  And since it uses two boxes of gelatin/jello, you can mix flavors and create new ones. (Grape and lime for example.)
Be creative with your cooking.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

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