Pickled Apricots

While tending to my store/art studio Thyme of the Season I decided I would get a head start on some additional preserving that I wanted to do.  We had purchased some very nice looking Ontario apricots at the veggie store and I wanted to use the left over pear pickling sauce to preserve them…nothing goes to waste around here.

I started out by cleaning the kitchen…bleaching my counter-tops and putting out fresh clean towels to cover the counter surface.  The water on the stove-top was brought to a boil and I submerged the apricots bit by bit.  Blanching the fruit for 20 seconds to 1 minute is the recommended time by this seems to vary depending on ripness of the fruit.  However, slipping the skins off any kind of fruit has never been my forte and I still struggle to perfect this technique.  I think that sometimes I don’t leave them in long enough and other times too long.  I also wonder if the fruit should be brought to room temperature first?  Some many questions…so much to learn.

While I removing the skins I sterilized my jars in the hot water bath, prepared my lids and brought the syrup to a boil.  I filled each jar with the apricots and poured the hot liquid over leaving an 1/2″ headspace.  I wiped the rims, placed the snaps and lids on and processed the 2 – 1 litre jars for 15 minutes.

Now, they didn’t last long!?!

Put Up Total:

• 2 x 1 L Old Jars