This week we took a trip to a local farm to fulfill one of our summer bucket list activities: pick peaches. Although with the midwest heat and humidity we’ve been graced with, I opted to alter the summer goal and buy pre-picked peaches. Call me a wimp, but sweating my guts out while chasing three kids through an orchard, carrying (what’s starting to feel like) a watermelon AND picking peaches didn’t sound too fun to me. Maybe next year?

They were sure tasty though.

Though we skipped the picking, the summer heat must have gotten to me still. Or maybe it was that mommy brain kicking back in, because I got a bit ambitious and brought home three pecks. Which I soon realized was a lot considering they were tree-ripe (versus being picked green and shipped across the country) and needed to be used or eaten quickly. Canning intimidates me, but freezing–now that’s something I can do, and so I made freezer jam with the majority of the peaches.

If you’ve never made freezer jam before, let me encourage you! It’s really easy, and {I think} tastes much better and fresher than store-bought. And since you store it in the freezer, there’s no need to worry about boiling jars, or getting botulism, or having the perfect timing, etc. that you deal with when canning. Sigh. Maybe I’ll get brave one day.

Packaged cute, and the jam becomes an impressive neighbor gift!

Want to make some? You’ll need peaches. Yep.

First, you peel the peaches. Of course you could get out your paring knife and start to whiddle away, but I suggest an easier way if you are going to peel more than one or two. My mother-in-law taught me this trick a couple of years ago, and I swore she was a genius.

1. Boil a pot of water and fill a large bowl (or the kitchen sink) with cold water and lots of ice.

2. Place your peaches in the boiling water about 30 seconds, then strain.

3. Immediately place boiled peaches in the ice water.

4. When the peaches have cooled in the ice water, gently rub the skin. It should peel right off.

Save the manicure for after this job

Perfectly peeled peach

5. I didn’t take a picture of this step, but use a knife–or better yet, if your peaches are ripe, your hands–to half the peach and pull out the pit. Then place the peeled peaches in a bowl and mash them. I like my jam chunky, so I just squished  with my hands until I got the consistency I liked. It’s kind of therapeutic, actually. Feel free to mash with a potato masher or food processor if you prefer.

6. This next step may vary a bit depending on what brand of kind of pectin you use. Just make sure it’s the freezer jam type, and then follow the directions and measurements for mashed fruit versus sugar as directed.

7. Place in freezer containers or jars. In my opinion, the flat containers fit better in the freezer, but if you’re giving away the jam, jars are cuter. Especially when decorated .

To decorate the jars I placed a rough cut square of burlap on top of the lid and tied it on tight with a piece of twine. Then I made the labels using two different sized circle punches.

Store jam in the freezer for up to a year, or in the fridge for three weeks.

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