Blueberry-Nectarine Preserves

I personally think of this as a jam, but truly it's a preserve. It's got higher density and the nectarine chunks are big, so you can chew your jam by the spoonful if you eat it like I do (spoon-to-mouth). It's quite easy to make! I made only a small portion, as often is my way, but you could make it in any quantity you feel best. This is a bit more formula than recipe, so feel free to scale. Don't worry about there not being any pectin in here - it WILL set correctly!

Here’s what you’ll need

1 nectarine, pitted and cut into 1/2" chunks (I left the peel on, but you don't have to)
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons lime juice
sugar

Here’s what you’ll do

Cut up your nectarine, and mix it together with the blueberries. Weigh the fruits. Whatever portion of a pound it comes out to, add that same portion of a cup of sugar. So, if you have half a pound of fruit (that's what I had), you'll use half a cup of sugar. 2 pounds of fruit, 2 cups of sugar. And so on. This is why you can make it with any quantity of fruit and just scale the sugar to meet it. I like 2 tablespoons on lime juice for each half pound. But you may use as little as one tablespoon per pound of fruit. It's kind of up to you how much lime you want to offset the fruit.

Mix together your fruit, the appropriate amount of sugar, and the lime juice in the saucepan you intend to cook your jam in. Make sure you use a much bigger pot than you think you'll need, as boiling sugar is something you never want to spill on yourself. Trust me on this. It hurts. A lot. Let that pot hang out for at least an hour to macerate, but you can leave it in the pot uncooked for up to two days. If you're going to do that, put it in the fridge with a lid. After you mix everything together in your pot, put a small (salad or dessert) plate and a spoon in your freezer. This is actually important, so don't blow off that instruction. I know most of what I say to do in the kitchen is pretty flexible and can be ignored, but not this.

When you're ready to jam (ha!), put your stove onto medium, or even medium high if you're daring and in a hurry. Get the pot on there, then start stirring your mixture. Once it's thick and leaves a good coating on the back of your spoon (I prefer to use wooden spoons, personally), turn off the heat and grab your plate and metal spoon out of the freezer. Dip your spoon in and get a little bit. Drop it onto the plate, then put the plate in the freezer for one minute. Remove the plate and gently push the edge of the preserve with your finger. If it maintains its shape (roughly) and/or is wrinkly when you push on it, it's done. Pour your preserve into a clean, sterilized container (you may sterilize by boiling for ten minutes or by heating it in the drying cycle of your dishwasher). Wipe down the sides of the jar and the top of the time, and either refrigerate or can (water bath processing 10 minutes). I often make these little small batches instead of large enough ones to can so I can avoid having to clean up after canning and also so I can eat a much wider array of preserves since I won’t be saddled with jar after jar of the given jam.