Strawberry-Peach Jam: The First Canning Adventure (complete with lots of pictures!)

     Canning. I'm really not sure what got me on this kick, but I'm pretty sure my friends and family really appreciate it. I must say, there is nothing like a homemade jam. It is so yummy and delicious, and who doesn't love seeing Ball mason jars sitting like ducks in a row in your pantry? And after a batch (or two) you probably won't have to buy jam for a year. The best part? It all averages out to about 3 dollars or less a jar (depending on what jars you buy). I got suckered into the Ball centennial "perfect mason" in blue... They were so pretty. I couldn't help it.
      Before we really start here, I will tell you a few things I have found in my first canning experience. Buy the funnel. Even if you aren't sure canning is your thing. Just do it. You can find other uses for it later. I burnt myself on hot jam, and let me tell you, a burn has never hurt so bad in my life. I mean boiling water is absolutely painless compared to that. Get the funnel. Next, the canning supplies are typically on the baking aisle. Third, You can use normal tongs for your jar lifting the first time, but after that, I would invest in the real kind if you would like to continue. After that, you don't need a "canning pot". Any large one will do. And finally, You don't really need that large rack that sits in the pot to boil your jars and lids. The rattling is annoying, but if you're unsure of canning, don't buy anything except the funnel, jars, pectin, and fruit!
This recipe is a modification from The Pioneer Woman's strawberry jam. I felt like switching it up after a batch of strawberry that I made. Oh, It is so good.

      Kitchenware required:
Two large pots: one for boiling jars and lids, one for jam
Spoons (I used two different ones)
A butter knife
One big bowl
One very large measuring cup (I used a pampered chef one that held 6 cups)
One small measuring cup
A prep bowl
A potato masher

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons of fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
2 1/2 Cups of mashed Strawberries (that's about two pounds)
2 1/2 Cups of mashed Peaches (2-3 cut them up and take out the pits)
1 Packet of Pectin (liquid or powdered... Let's not be too picky here)
7 Cups of sugar (yes, I am aware this is a lot, but it is high yielding. You may want to dial the sugar back to 6 cups depending on your taste in jam)

HUGE AND MASSIVE NOTE: this recipe yielded 4 1/2 pint jars of jam. That is a lot. I would recommend using half-pint jars instead of the pint jars also. Oh, and give some jam to your friends.

How To:
1) Prepare your fruit. Cut the tops off of your strawberries, and hull them also. Throw them into a large mixing bowl and mash em' up. Mash em' up real good... I mean well. Mash them well. Transfer those yummy, delicious-smelling strawberries into the big ol' measuring cup. I'm usually not very exact, but being exact is pretty important with jam, so if you're afraid of extra, mash gradually, and eat whatever you don't need to mash. Problem solved. Take the skin off of your peaches. Take out the pit, and dice them up. I like my jam a little chunky, so my chunks were bigger. If you like yours more smooth, use smaller chunks.
2) Squeeze your lemon juice into a prep bowl.
3) Put your jars and lids into a pot as pictured. It is always good practice to boil an extra jar! If you don't need it, just dry it and let it cool before putting it away. This is also where I should tell you fellow canning newbies that you don't put the screw part of the lid in the boiling water.

Just look at those beautiful blue jars... Swoon.

4) Add the fruit, lemon juice, and pectin to the other large pot. Bring it to a nice and rolling boil.

 5) Add your sugar. All at once. I had to use two measuring cups. Thank you to Shelby who helped me with the pictures and double fisting the sugar. You are brilliant.

Yes, I know. That is a mountain of sugar you say.

 6) Stir it up! It isn't as labor intensive as it looks. I cooked my jam on high heat, and the sugar liquified really fast, as you can see in the next picture!

 7) Bring that sucker to a "violent" boil. I mean you should be a little scared of a boil over or face splatter here. Once you can move your spoon through it and it isn't disturbed, let it boil for exactly one minute and fifteen seconds. A note here: it gets really foamy. Especially something about the peach in this recipe.

 8) Take your jam off the heat. Wait a moment for the foam to die down, and then discard any excess on the top. this is the one part you don't have to be super precise about.
9) Another disclaimer: do as I say on this, not as I do. So, you made it! Here comes the wonderful canning part! Take a jar out of the water with tongs. Set it down. Grab your funnel, and plop it on top. Spoon in the jam until the jam reaches the base of where the lid screws on. Run a butter knife down the edges to get air pockets out. Also, when holding these glass jars that just came out of boiling water, wear an oven mitt. Don't be me. After that, plop a lid on. Put on the little screw part. Set aside! Repeat until you're out of jam! Sometimes you will get half jars, and that's okay! Let them cool to room temp, and then simply pop them into the fridge. skip the next step for them.

Look at my hand. It actually looks pretty... Thank you Liz, you have finally succeeded in making my nasty double jointed fingers look like a ballerina. Sorta. Oh, and this was moments before I burnt myself... poor middle finger.

 10) Stick your full jars back into the pot of water. Crank it up on high. When it's rolling, set a timer for ten minutes. When that goes off, take the jars out! Set them in a safe place to cool for a full 24 hours. don't move them before then so your seals can fully set! You will hear some popping throughout the night, but don't fret! That's a good thing. It means your seals are taking. And if a jar doesn't set in24 hours, press down on the middle. Sometimes they just need some help. If it still won't take, eat those jars first. They will still stay good for a long time since all the food has been boiled so much!