Caramelized Onion Jam

I decided to try a recipe a while ago that I got off the blog of someone on my list and she got it from Taste of Home. I wasn't quite sure what I would think about it, but I wanted to branch out a bit from fruit jams. It took a long time to make but it was worth it! It works very well as a marinade or glaze. I just scoop some out of the jar, melt it in the microwave and pour it over whatever meat I am using. The meat has fantastic flavor and the resulting sauce is excellent.

Caramelized Onion Jam

4 whole garlic bulbs
1 teaspoon canola oil
5 cups chopped sweet onions (1-1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 cups sugar
1 pouch (3 ounces) liquid fruit pectin

Remove papery outer skin from garlic (do not peel or separate cloves). Cut top off garlic bulbs; brush with oil. Wrap each bulb in heavy-duty foil. Bake at 425° for 30-35 minutes or until softened. Cool for 10-15 minutes.

In a Dutch oven, saute onions in butter for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Squeeze softened garlic into pan. Stir in the cider vinegar, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, ginger and cloves. Bring to a rolling boil. Gradually add sugar, stirring constantly. Return to a boil for 3 minutes.

Add pectin; bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; let stand for 3 minutes. Skim off foam. Pour hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.





I don't have a dutch oven that I can use on the stovetop so I just used my regular stock pot. It did have a pretty firm set. I think I will use slightly less pectin the next time I make it as it is a little hard to scoop out of the jar once I have opened it the first time and put it in the fridge.


The house smelled amazing while this was cooking. Especially the four bulbs of roasted garlic. I love garlic!





I have a very hard time chopping onions by hand. My eyes are super sensitive to onion to the point that for years, I would only use frozen chopped onion. Now that I am trying to eat more local food, buying frozen onion at the store isn't an option. Using my food processor really helps though.





The onions cooked down and starting to caramelize.





I was worried this would be too sweet, but it really isn't once you cook with it. When I tasted it alone during the cooking, it was very sweet but it does mellow out when you use it.





The finished jars. I will definitely be making this again next year!

Chicken Losses

A couple weeks ago, my family went to a family reunion of sorts in Texas. We stayed for five days and really had a very good time... except for the call we got on Friday from the person who was feeding the dogs and collecting eggs from the chicken coop. Apparently some of the chickens got out (I won't get into how it happened), and the dogs killed them. At first it was only two. Then when she came back the next day, she found another. It must have been hiding when she was there and tried to get back in the run later. This has left me with only four chickens. Not only were almost half my chickens dead, but my dogs caused some minor injuries to each other; most likely while fighting over the dead chickens.

We have doctored the dogs and they will be fine, but nothing can bring back the chickens. It took me two years to get chickens to laying age that laid green eggs and now they are both gone (the first Easter Eggers I had laid cream colored eggs). All of the chickens were at prime laying age. I can't even start over with chicks right now because it will soon be too cold to brood them outside and I don't like having chicks in the house. We just got rid of our brooder box anyway so I will end up having to make another one in the spring. I probably won't be able to give eggs to friends and neighbors throughout the winter as two of the girls who are left are starting to molt and aren't breeds that lay well over the winter anyway. All around, it just stinks.

Goodbye girls, sorry you had such rotten end.