Jam Anyone?

Remember I told you on Monday that we picked all the apricots off our tree? Well, yesterday was Pack Meeting, so they just had to sit in buckets for a little while. But sometime on Tuesday I had this brilliant beyond brilliant plan... I could teach my Activity Days girls how to make jam!

So on Tuesday about 5:00 I ran fliers to all of their houses, suggesting that they come over at 10:00 this morning if they wanted to learn to make jam. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to see very many of them. It was such short notice and it's summer, but I figured it was a great way to make sure I got myself out of bed and started early.

I was wrong.

By 10:15, I had 8 girls here all excited to learn some new skills. None of them had made jam before, but they were all willing to do whatever I asked of them. In no time they had pitted all four buckets of apricots.

Then they helped the Drama Queen put them through the food processor to make pulp. Some girls stirred and others measured sugar. We had a great system and in an hour and a half we had completed 6 batches. The girls loved using bread to wipe up the remaining jam that clung to the pan so they could sample the yummy sweetness.

By noon they were all gone home, each with a hot pint jar of jam tucked safely into a paper sack so they wouldn't get burned.

It was so much fun! I think maybe we just started a new tradition.