Recipe Review: Plum-Kissed Pear Jam

I've been bitten by the canning bug. I had no idea making your own jelly and jam was so easy, and could turn out so tasty. Earlier this week I had a few very ripe pears on hand and was looking for something interesting to do with them. After scouring the internet I decided on this recipe for pear jam with a hint of plums. I made a few tweaks to the original recipe, and have a few more I'll make if I make this again. It's not that often that I have a bunch of pears that are super sweet and ripe and ready to use.

Plum-Kissed Pear Jam
adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 cups chopped ground pears (although if yours are as ripe as mine were you wouldn't need to grind them up - mine boiled away into oblivion)
1 cup of chopped ground plums (I used 2 small plums and a pluot. I think apple would be good here too, but wouldn't add the pretty pink color I had from the plums)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice - next time I would add another Tbsp.)
1 pkg pectin (Sure Jell)
4 cups white sugar (this should be reduced by 1/2 cup or so)
1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 tsp. Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon (this could be increased to 2 tsp. or even 1 Tbsp. if you like cinnamon)
*Hot water bath & clean, sterilized canning jars, rings, and tops

Wash, peel, core, and chop up 3 cups of pears. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Wash, peel, pit, and chop 1 cup of plums. Place in a large stock pot. Add pkg. of pectin and bring to a boil. Add white sugar and boil for 1 minute. Skim foam off top of pear/plum mixture, remove from heat and stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Quickly ladle into prepared canning jars. Boil in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Pull from hot water and place on a kitchen towel. Allow to set 24 hours. Check seals.

*Follow safe canning procedures for preparing canning jars, rings, and tops.

I got 4 8oz. (1/2 pint) jars and 4 4oz. jars from this recipe.

This is the yummy sample that wouldn't fit in a canning jar. Mmmm. As I tasted it I was wishing for a fresh made scone or biscuit to put it on.

Next on the list is homemade bruschetta. What could be better than fresh summery tomatoes, mixed with garlic and spices and canned for winter! Oh dear. I see a possible need to convert one of my pantry shelves to just home canned items. I think I'm hooked! This is going to be fun!