There are so many things that I like about summer, one of which are fresh Porter Peaches. Porter is an Oklahoma town where millions of sweet peaches are grown each summer. I eagerly await these sweet fuzzy wonders and then make the pilgrimage to Porter to pick my favorite varieties.

On a warm sunny Sunday afternoon we made our way to the beautiful loaded trees; we picked a bushel of overly ripe peaches for jam. At another orchard, we sampled all the peach varieties fresh from the tree, as well as fried peach, and blueberry pie and ice cream. It was a yummy outing which I plan to repeat in a week or so when another of my favorite varieties is ready to be picked. We love going into the orchard and picking the peaches ourselves when possible and of course, eating as many as we can hold in the process.

Now that we have the peaches we are ready to Jam. My friend Nina has never canned before so it is going to be a fun day teaching her this time-honored way of preserving food that will allow us to enjoy and savor our peaches all winter long. My Dad taught me how to make jam many years ago and it is a delight to be able to share his skills and methods with someone else.

Here are our completed jars—I can’t wait to share these prized jars with friends and family!

So far the summer has yielded a delight of culinary adventures that are so rich with fresh fruits and vegetables. Here’s hoping your summer has been full of adventure as well. I am excited to share my experience with Sourdough breads in my August blog but until then here is a great peach jam recipe from tasteofhome.com

Blushing Peach Jam

My husband, son and I live on 10 acres where we tend a large garden and acres of pumpkins. We love this jam so much we’re going to start growing raspberries, too.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups crushed peeled peaches
• 2 Cups red raspberries, crushed
• 1/4 Cup bottled lemon juice
• 7 Cups sugar
• 2 pouches (3 ounces each) liquid fruit pectin
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

• In a Dutch Oven, combine the peaches, raspberries and lemon juice. Stir in sugar.Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat; skim off foam. Add extract. Carefully ladle hot mixture into hot sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/4-in headspace. Wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for 5 minutes in boiling-water canner.
• Yield: 4 pints