It's plum time !

Driving to the nearest village the day before yesterday , I came across the same bounty on the main road and under the trees as I did last year...
It was yellow with tiny plums..and there were hundreds and hundreds of them..

Such a shame just to leave it to the bees and the birds.
So I went back and picked half a bag full which gave me a huge platter full of plums.

Then gave it a good wash ( washed it three times just to be sure ) and made some plum jam, and.. some plum wodka ( first time ! ) ....
You can find the recipe for the plum -jam here- but I will put it in this post as well for ease of use.
 Plum Jam .
This recipe is pretty easy.Practically hands-free.
Ingredients:
1 kilo plums
1 kilo sugar
1 sachet of pectin powder ( 8 grammes) - ( brand Tate and Lyle or other make ).
 4 clean jam pots with screw-on lids
1 Big pan ( so the jam can boil but cannot boil over )
1 Wooden spoon.
Scales.
Oventray.



How to make the plum jam  :
Wash the plums, halve them , and take the stone out.
Once you have washed, halved and stoned the plums, chuck the plums all in the big pan, add the sugar, and the sachet of pectin .
Stir the whole thing through till you have a thick gloop.
This is what it should look like:

Put it on a medium heat and cook for at least 10 minutes, stir with the wooden spoon.Let it come to
a nice " rolling boil" as they call it.You will recognise what they mean by it when you see it.The boiling masse will boil and boil and rise slightly.That is why you need a big pan by the way.
Check if the jam is "done " by putting it on a cold saucer you put in the fridge earlier and let it cool down on it- when you push the jam with your finger it should crinkle a bit.
Put your oven on 150-180 degrees Centigrade .Boil a kettle with water.

Spoon the plum jam into your jars.Screw the lids on the jars, put all the jars in an oven tray in the now warmed up oven.Fill the tray with the jam-jars up to 2  centimeters with the boiling water.
Close the oven and let warm up for 5 or so minutes. Then let the jam-jars completely cool down in the oven.
This seems to help with getting the pots to not spoil and the jam be OK.

Now for the pretty label for your pots.As I told before, you can download all kind of pretty stationary and party designs from The Wedding Style Blog  for free. Although it's wedding related, you can easily adapt it.
I used this , called " Pretty Parisian" -

Print it off, stick it on your jam pots , write date and what kind of jam it is, and you're done !

Piece of cake !

Plums in wodka is even more ridiculously easy.
Ingredients:

• 450 g wodka
• 225 g plums.
• 125 g sugar

Put vodka, plums and sugar in a  saucepan-.Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Get a clean and sterile Kilner jar- small size.You sterilize by running it through the dishwasher cycle and use it while it is still hot.Let the vodka/plum mixture cool down a bit, then spoon it in the jar.Close jar.
Put your oven on 150-180 degrees Centigrade .Boil a kettle with water.
Put the jar in an oven tray in the now warmed up oven. Fill the tray with the jar up to 2  centimeters with the boiling water.Close the oven and let warm up for 5 or so minutes. Then let the jar completely cool down in the oven.

Store in a dark, cool place for 3 months.Ready just before Christmas! 
Have a fabulous end of the week!
XOXO
Bea

This is also featured as " Editor's pick" on "The Instructables".

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