Peach-Basil Jam

I have been a little bit negligent in posting to the blog - I apologize work has been a little insane.  That said there will be a couple of posts to make up for it.  While I have not been posting, I did, in fact, bake and make canned goods since then.  So here goes...

This jam was obviously inspired by the Peach-Basil Sangria drink that Josh invented and I attempted to copy in my recipe.  I am really excited to try this on some Rusk in the morning.  Now you might be asking, what is rusk I have never heard of this.  Rusk is a Dutch breakfast thing that is delicious.  Wikipedia describes it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusk.  You can basically put anything on it.  My normal favorite is butter with cinnamon and sugar, or growing up it was cotton candy.  Sadly I am not joking about this last one and sometimes wonder why I have any teeth.  Anyway, I still have one package of rusk left and am looking forward to slathering some of this jam on it for breakfast in the future.

Now more importantly, I had my cat, named Trouble model this jam last night...here are the results.  I also want to note that I have the most amazing cat in the world.  You might think your cats are cool, or you might hate cats....that is because you haven't met Trouble.  Trouble has protected me from mice since 2006.

Apparently Trouble thinks it smells good

I call this....green steel.

Ingredients

adapted from marriedwithdinner.com which was adapted from June Taylor.
3 pounds pitted ripe peaches
3 cups white sugar
2.5 T lemon juice
1 T orange granulated orange peel (or orange zest)
1 bunch of basil
1 packet of powdered pectin

Take the peaches and wash them.  Then pit and chop them into pieces.  There is no need to peel the skins off of them for this particular jam.  Add the white sugar, lemon juice and orange peel.  Cover and let this mix sit in the fridge overnight to allow the juices to release from the peaches.

Next, transfer to a saucepan (if it was not already in one) and add freshly washed and chopped basil.  Bring it to a boil.  After it is boiling, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the fruit is cooked through.  Then bring it back to a boil, add pectin and let boil for about 5 minutes.

Then ladle mixture into sterilized jars.  Wipe rims, apply lids and process in water boiler canner for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!