Mock Strawberry-Fig Preserves

I have been off work for several days now (all celebrating the 4th of July, of course!)

Peter and I were able to complete several projects that have been on my 'to do' list for months!  I'll show some of the other projects this week, but for today...we'll make preserves!

Figs are ready and unless I pick them everyday, "The Devil" (Mr. Mockingbird) will poke his beak into each and everyone of them...take only one poke, then move on to the next ripe one.

Ashley also got figs from the farm where she is working, so we had plenty of figs to use for our preserve making time.

First, gather the supplies:  figs, strawberry jello, sugar, wax and our sterilized jars.

Begin the process by washing the figs and removing the stems.  Once clean, mash them up (skin and all.)

Lauren manned adding the strawberry jello

and the sugar.  She used her math skills (fractions) to keep track of how much sugar she needed each time we added 3 cups of figs.

Stir the figs, sugar and strawberry jello together and mix it well.  Once it comes to a boil, cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

The jars are ready for the hot, sweet mixture.

Our jars were sealed with paraffin wax and when cool we'll add the lids to the jars and they're ready to take to the Farmer's Market.  Ashley has been manning the booth at the Greenville Farmers Market on Saturday's...so she'll have some sweet treats for next Saturday!

Once we completed our project Ashley decided we "needed" to see how big a hole we'll need to knock in her kitchen wall.  (She's been on a burn since completing the Chicken Coop to get the wall knocked down between the kitchen and their living room.)

Lauren took the first swing at the wall and knocked the hole in the sheet rock.  She was pretty excited!

Nice hole...maybe we need a bigger hole to peek into the next room.

Now we can see the other room... 

I'm sure now that the hole is there, by the time I come back out to the farm the sheet rock will be down on both sides of the wall!  (Notice when she painted her kitchen she did not paint the middle of the wall...all her plan to make sure there would be a doorway eventually!)

Till tomorrow...

debi

P.S.  Here is the complete recipe for the Fig Preserves (Thanks Mom!)

Mock Strawberry Jam made with Figs
3 cups figs, mashed and crushed well (using skin and all)
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry Jell-O

Wash figs. Cut off stems. Mash/crush completely. Place mashed figs, Jell-O and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour quickly into sterilized jars. Seal immediately or cover immediately with melted paraffin.