Apricot Day!

So Monday was Apricot Day (hence my font is orange!). The first councilor in our bishopric has fruit trees and wanted someone to come pick apricots. Monday morning around 8 my mother-in-law Julie and I were in the orchard. Unfortunately, the fruit were the size of quarters instead of the larger size I was envisioning and they were covered in hornets who eat the juice. For about an hour we braved the infested orchard and came out with one box full. Disappointed (thinking the small fruit was not going to make very much) but undaunted, we returned to her kitchen and began. To our surprise we cooked from 10:00 to 5:00 and made two batches of cooked jam, four batches of freezer jam, and four batches of fruit leather. I personally prefer freezer jam because it is easy to make, but the cooked jam has a beautiful red color and tastes good too. We made a raspberry, pineapple, and apricot jam; a blackberry and apricot jam; and a plain apricot.
Freezer Jam:
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
one packet of pectin
4 cups mashed fruit
There are directions on all packets of pectin, but the basic recipe is mix sugar and pectin in a bowl. Add the mashed fruit and mix. When mixed stir and extra 3 minutes. Fill jars and put in fridge until set, then freeze. This jam doesn't set as well as cooked jam, but it is much easier to make.
Cooked Jam:
2 cups pineapple
5 cups crushed apricots
7 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 large package of raspberry jello
Boil the fruit and lemon juice together, Then add the jello and stir until dissolved. Bottle and seal. To seal the jars:
Hot jam needs hot jars and hot lids. Boil lids in water and either run jars through the dishwasher or soak them in hot water as well. Pour the jam in the hot jars and quickly apply and tighten the hot lids. You must use new lids to seal jars but the jars and rings can be old. When the jam cools a popping noise will tell you the bottles are sealed.
Fruit Leather:
2 cups apricots
1/2 cups pineapple
1 Tbl. lemon juice
2 Tbls. honey
Blend together. Dry at 135 degrees for 4-8 hours.