I don't have pectin. I have 4 small envelopes of unflavored gelatin. I would like to make some preserves or jam. I've never made any preserves or jam, so I'm kinda lost as to whether I MUST have pectin, or can I use something else?

I also want to can some using light syrup. I'm headin to the kitchen to do those now. Some are starting to go bad!

How do you preserve/use your peaches?

Any recipes would be appreciated...cobblers, jams, whatever...

Tried and true recipes would be best...I can find all those out there on the www. :D ;)

Also looking for lower sugar recipes.

OOOHH...or peach pie filling...

Can't count on this being low cal, but it's yummy

PEACH CRUMBLE
6 cup sliced peeled ripe peaches
1 cup fresh black berries or raspberries (I've made it without the berries, but it sure adds a good flavor)
3 Tbl flour
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup butter, melted

place peaches and berries in 9X13 baking dish. combine 3 Tbl flour, brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the fruit. Combine 1/2 cup flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in beaten eggs until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over fruit mixture. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake 375 degrees fir 35-40 minutes.

Nurses do more than save lives. We love to cook. Since our E.R. is small, when it's quiet we trade recipes, and often experiment in our little kitchen. Last year we even published a cookbook of our favorite recipes.

I just made a peach pie, came out extra juicy.....I would advise tapocia or cornstarch....flour doesn,t do a great job :D i used cinnamon and a squirt of lemon and sugar :D

We just got back from a peach buying trip to Michigan. Got 1 1/2 bushels. When canning peaches, I always use a light syrup, the true peach flavor comes through so much better than using a heavier syrup. You should be able to find a recipe for this in a good basic cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens is what I use, also visit the website www. canning-food-recipes.com/canning fruits.htm. I also last year got "Ball Blue Book of Preserving". Lots and lots of advice and recipes. I ordered it over the web, don't remember the cost.
Light syrup: 2 cups sugar, 4 cups water, yields 5 cups. While heating water, add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil. Fill jars while syrup is still boiling hot.
Good luck. I love canning peaches, and I especially loving eating them in the cold winter months!
Julie
p.s. another website: www.homecanning.com

If you're making Jam or Jelly, it's best to use pectin. I always use Certo, I like it the best. If you are planning to make Jam or Jelly you could go ahead and clean, peel and pit the peaches and boil them down into juice and save that juice for Jelly, that way you can get pectin in the next few days. You could always make Peach Freezer Jam too, but you'd also need 1 pack of certo. Or, you could go ahead and clean and peel and pit the peaches if you like and crush them and refrigerate or even freeze them until you get the certo (for the Freezer Jam). Certo has recipes listed for quite a few jams, jellies and freezer jams. I thought I had a box around here but I must have used it all making Strawberry Freezer Jam. Certo also has a low sugar pectin too, I haven't tried it though.

Thanks everyone for all the tips and recipes and ideas so far. I canned two quarts in light syrup...and that's ALL I got accomplished in the canning department today. The kids were very hyper today. I got the two quarts canned while they were out with Daddy. Maybe I should've canned in pints. Maybe I'll can in both.

I've been making Jelly all summer and yesterday, I made 4 turns and I was thinking, what a job it would be with youngsters. I'd be so afraid of everything hot they could get burned on and canning is much worse. LOL. Especially with them running through the house. When I was growing up, every time we started canning, we were strictly told NOT to run in the house..lol.

Thanks, Loretta. It does feel good to be recognized. Some don't really know the work that goes into this stuff! Some people think I'm crazy.

My Mom has canned every year, so I grew up with it. :) When I got old enough, I helped. I remember one year when I was probably 14?, I had been helping Mom can peppers. I don't know if she was pickling them or making salsa or putting them in tomatoes, but I know I ate 3 or 4 big hot banana peppers as we were working them up. They weren't hot at ALL! YUMMY! (I LOVE HOT STUFF, BTW) Mom told me if I helped her get the rest of her stuff going, she'd let me go to the fair with my best friend. :D
So, I helped and ate peppers. About 30 minutes after I ate those peppers, they kicked in and started burning! I thought I was absolutely going to DIE! I ate bread, butter, ice, everything. NOthing helped. I got sick. I thought I wasn't going to be able to go to the fair. I eat hot stuff all the time and have ever since I can remember. I mean, the HOTTEST stuff you ever thought about....and those peppers were like a sweet pepper when I ate them. That is one memory that is still bright and fresh! WHEW!

Anyway, I've canned since I moved away from home. I only can about 1-2 bushel of tomatoes (alone, minus the peppers...not counting any other veggies like corn, beans, etc.) each summer since I've had kids. I was up to 4 bushel of tomatoes alone before I had my first!
My DH bought me a bushel of green beans the year my son was born...he was about 3 months old...I wasn't sure I'd get anything done, but I got 'em!