Recipe of the Week: Easy Cherry Jam

Good evening and happy Monday! A couple of weeks ago my pal Robbi gave me a great idea to make cherry jam using canned, tart, water-packed cherries:

Cherry jam is my son's favorite, so I decided to give it a try and it turned out FANTASTIC!! It was really easy to make too, so I knew that you'd want to know how to make some as well. (Think upcoming holiday gifts for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, etc.)

Let's get started!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 - 15 oz. cans of tart, pitted, water-packed cherries
• 4 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 box Sure-Jell
• 7 - 8 oz. jelly jars with lids and rings

METHOD:

Sterilize the jars and lids by washing in hot, soapy, bleach water; then rinse with clean hot water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and allow the jars and lids to soak in the boiling water for at least 10 minutes while cooking your jam.

Drain the liquid from the cherries and reserve that liquid in a separate bowl. Finely chop cherries. (You will need 4 cups of chopped cherries, but if you are a little shy of that amount, you may add some of the liquid that was drained off of the cherries to get the measurement to the 4 cup mark.)

Place the 4 cups of chopped cherries/liquid into a large pot and add Sure-Jell. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Add sugar, stirring constantly. Bring to a full-rolling boil once again, and boil mixture for exactly 1 minute. (NOTE: Even though the canned cherries state they are "pitted", I discovered several cherry pits floating to the top while my jam was cooking. Watch out for those and scoop them out of your jam while it's cooking...no one likes to bite down on a cherry pit and possibly break a tooth - YIKES!!)

Turn off heat and skim off any foam using a metal spoon.

Immediately pour jam into sterilized jars, wiping the mouth of the jar with a clean, wet cloth. Cover with sterilized lids, and place/tighten the rings on the jars. Turn the jars upside down for 5 minutes, then turn upright to set and to allow the jars to completely seal. Once jars have cooled, check seals by pressing the centers of the lids with your finger. If the lid does not spring back, the jar is sealed and may be stored in your pantry for up to 1 year. (If the lid springs back, the jar didn't seal properly and am must be stored in your refrigerator.)

Enjoy!!