Small Batch Pineapple Jam

Ladies, lets talk about something men just don't understand - the clearance section.  I know I'm not alone in my love for a deal!  I still talk about the time I got $40 shoes for $3 (gold sandals at JCPenney's, by the way).  My best friend knows that if we're Target, we are going to go see the endcaps to see what steals and deals they have.  I tell my husband all the time that if we ever get separated in a store, he can always find me in the clearance section.  Now, one of the surprising places to find a deal is the produce section of your grocery store.  Did you know that sometimes they will put produce that's maybe not quite as pretty as it once was on clearance?  Me neither - at least until a few months ago.  Now I love pineapple whether its in juice form or chunks - I love it all.  But pineapples can be expensive.  My local grocery store usually has them for $4.99 each.  Which, for folks on a budget, spending $5 on a pineapple sometimes doesn't make the final list.  So when I came across a pineapple wrapped up in the cling film that was marked $.69?  Yeah, that was going in my cart!  No it wouldn't be winning any special awards for appearance and it wasn't going to last long on the counter either.  No, this needed something to make it last MUCH longer...

Enter Pomona's Pectin.  I LOVE this stuff!  Pomona's Pectin allows the at-home canner to make jams and jellies (and lots of other things, according to their website) using much less sugar than your traditional pectin.  For example: strawberry jam using traditional pectin requires THREE CUPS of sugar. THREE! Using Pomona's Pectin, I use ONE CUP for the exact same amount of fruit. Talk about a big difference!  And I don't know about you but I find a lot of fresh fruits don't actually need that much sugar so it's great to see a product that will allow me to have much more control over the sugars rather than letting the sugar control me.  The insert that comes with the packets of pectin have plenty of jam and jelly ideas for you to try.  The pineapple jam had always intrigued me but, as you can guess, pineapple never stuck around long enough in my house to ever be made into jam.  But now, I had a pineapple that was just begging to made into jam.

Also, as a side note... as many of my readers know, I like to steer clear of preservatives and keep things as natural as possible.  Now, I will occasionally use tradition pectin because - well, sometimes a tradition is a tradition for a reason.  But have you looked on the side of a traditional Ball Fruit Pectin jar? It's dextrose (which is a type of sugar), fruit pectin, and citric acid.  Not exactly something I wanted to see.  But Pomona's Pectin?  From their website: "Pomona's Universal Pectin contains only 100% pure citrus pectin, which is vegan, gluten free, and GMO free.  There are no additives, preservatives, sugar, or dextrose.  There are no corn or apple by-products."  Now that sounds like a product I can get behind!  (side note:  I didn't get any compensation from Pomona's Pectin - I bought this product and I use it with quite a bit of regularity.)

So for the next question:  where can you find this wonderful product?  I found mine at my local Williams-Sonoma but you can also find it at Whole Foods Markets.  You can also order from Amazon (Prime eligible).  On their website, they do have a Store Locator to help you find it at a store near you.

Pineapple Jam
recipe from insert in Pomona's Pectin

2 c. Pineapple, mashed (one pineapple gave me the full amount)
1 c. Sugar
1 tsp. Pectin Powder (included in Pomona's Pectin)
1 tsp. Calcium Water (included in Pomona's Pectin)

Get your jars prepared by washing them and letting them stand in a pot of hot, simmering water (making sure the water is at least one inch higher than the top of the jars).
In a separate bowl, measure your sugar and mix in the pectin powder.
Pour the mashed fruit into a pan (DO NOT USE CAST IRON!) and stir in the calcium water.
Bring the fruit to a boil.
Add in your sugar and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes until the pectin and sugar dissolves.
Bring the fruit mixture back up to a boil.
Remove from the heat.
Remove your warm jars from the water and turn up the heat, letting your water come to a boil.
Fill your warm jars to 1/4" from the top and wipe the rims clean.
Screw on your two piece, screwing them just "finger tight" (until you can't tighten anymore just using your fingers).
Return your jars into the boiling water.
Boil for 10 minutes (if you're above sea level, add 1 minute to each 1000 feet above sea level).
Remove from the water and let the jars cool with a towel draped over them.
The jars are sealed when you hear a loud pop as they cool.  (Unsealed jars should be eaten within three weeks and kept in the fridge.)

Makes two half pints.

Pineapple Pie

Have you ever had a time where you plan and plan and everything just goes the complete opposite of what you were intending?  And yet, somehow, inexplicably, it turns out better than you had ever realized?  Yeah?  So its not just me.  Good to know.

The husband and I were invited to a cookout at my friend's house.  She was recently engaged and wanted to throw a cookout to celebrate.  (Well, technically she had planned the cookout before she got engaged and since the proposal was a surprise, she didn't know that at the time she was planning both a cookout and an engagement party.  Again - you plan something and it changes and ends up being better than you first thought.)  I wanted to make a dessert.  Gee.  I wonder why...  What I had planned on making was this really cool thing called fruit pizza. The base is a sugar cookie dough with a sweetened cream cheese frosting that you top with fresh fruit.  I was so excited!  Everything was going great - I had made the giant sugar cookie in a pizza pan and the cream cheese frosting tasted very yummy.  Until... I went to cut the sugar cookie and it stuck to the pan. (Nonstick my foot.)  Then it cracked and crumbled.  My pizza was no longer looking like a pizza.  Knowing I had NO time to prepare a new sugar cookie pizza "crust", I just changed things up.  I cut out the sugar cookie into two bite portions and somehow managed to save the day.

After this cookout, the husband and I were planning a little cookout of our own the next day (this was back during Memorial Day weekend) and I had planned on making a lemon dessert.  Then I couldn't find my recipe.  So I had to find another one and, as usual, I never had all of the ingredients.  So I decided to go in a totally different direction!  To top my fruit pizza, I had purchased loads of fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, and a fresh pineapple.  Since I was expecting to use much more fruit than I actually ended up using, I had plenty of fruit leftover - especially the pineapple.  I knew I wanted to make a pie so I went in search of a pineapple pie.  Just to see if such a thing existed.  And, lo and behold, it was!! Except pretty much every recipe used canned pineapple.  But I had a fresh one! So I continued to search.  And finally, my search proved, well, fruitful (pun intended... hehe)!  This pie is fresh, delicious, simple, and a wonderful way to show off the natural sweetness of the pineapple.

Pineapple Pie

adapted from Lottie + Doof

4 Eggs
3/4 c. Sugar
Juice of one Lime
1/4 t. Salt
1/4 c. All Purpose Flour
1/4 c. Butter, melted
2 c. Fresh Pineapple, chopped
Deep Dish Pie Crust (uncooked)

Preheat your oven AND a baking sheet to 450.
In a large bowl, mix your eggs, sugar, lime juice, and salt.
In a smaller bowl, combine the flour and melted butter.
Whisk a small amount of your flour and butter mixture into your eggs to temper them... then you can add in the rest of the butter and flour.  (We don't want scrambled eggs in our pie, now do we?)
Stir in the pineapple.
Pour everything into your unbaked pie shell.
Take your preheated baking sheet out of the oven, gently place your pie onto it.  (Why?  If you preheat your baking sheet, it helps the bottom crust cook more evenly.)
Gently cover with foil, doing your best to keep the foil from touching the pineapple filling (otherwise it'll stick to the foil as it cooks.)
Bake for 20 minutes, rotating it in the oven after 10 minutes (more even cooking goodness).
Lower the oven temp to 350 and continue baking for 30 to 40 minutes.
The pie will be done when the center doesn't jiggle when you shake it.
Cool completely and my husband recommends that you serve (slightly warmed) with ice cream.