I’d like to welcome my sweet friend, Bobbye, back today. If you are a regular here, you may remember her other guest posts on the Zuni Cafe and Taylor Street Grill. Bobbye is an art teacher by day, but in her “spare” time, she and her husband operate an art studio and breeding/boarding kennel. They have a quaint farm in East Texas, where they breed superior Olde English Bulldogges. In addition to that, she also somehow manages to find the time to garden and can her own preserves. Talk about one busy lady! Today, she is welcoming us into her kitchen (and what a cute kitchen it is!) to discuss fig preserves.

The fig trees produced an abundant bounty of figs early this summer. We have picked figs, canned preserves, shared figs, picked figs, canned preserves, shared figs, picked figs, canned preserves and shared figs again. The figs are still ripening and falling from the trees faster than we can use them.

I love figs. I prefer the simple intensity of just fresh figs, sugar, lemon and nothing else in a jar. As close to that fresh, sweet, succulent fruit eaten straight off the tree in the coolness of the early summer mornings is the goal for the outcome of the jar. The excess bounty inspired creativity. After canning all the fig preserves we could use and share for the year I still had so many figs I just couldn’t let go to waste.



*Note: you must add additional cooking time to reach the jelling point of 220 degrees when you add more fruit.
Every cook needs a little helper, right Bulgar?

Plumberry Fig Preserves - Guest Post
Ingredients
- 4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups water
- 6 cups figs ,washed (if using little figs, don't peel, if using large figs, peel them, and if really large, peel and chop in half
- 1 lemon , sliced
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine the sugar and water, and cook until it becomes a thick, bubbly syrup. While the liquid is boiling, add in the figs and sliced lemon. Cook until the figs are transparent and clear, then turn off the heat, cover and let sit overnight.
- After it sits overnight, if you want a thicker syrup you can remove the figs and boil the syrup until it reaches the desired thickness. Then, put add the figs back in and bring it up to a boil for a few minutes. Place the figs into hot sterilized jars, add in the syrup and cover with paraffin.
- If the syrup is already the right thickness after sitting overnight, just bring the syrup and figs to a boil again, place the figs into hot, sterilized jars and add the syrup and then seal. This makes 4-5 pints.
Notes
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