So until I took on this 30-while-30 post, I had never canned anything.  I was rather intimidated by the whole process, mostly because I didn’t understand how it worked.  However, making preserves was enough of an impetus for me to figure it out.  I will caveat this with you absolutely do NOT have to can these preserves – in fact, they are so delicious you likely will finish them in a very short period of time, and therefore not need to can them – however, it’s a really fun treat to pull homemade preserves out of the pantry, say for a tea party with a friendly co-blogger.   It is very, very easy to make your own preserves – basically you just boil fruit with some sugar and voila – preserves. 

When I tackled this process, I figured if I am taking the time to make my own preserves, I would go off the beaten track and make a flavor I couldn’t find at my local grocery purveyor.  Ginger peach preserves sounded just about perfect – particularly because they do not include pectin, and I am still a little intimidated by using pectin.  I cut the amount of sugar in the recipe by over half, and also omitted the allspice because I just didn’t think the recipe really needed it.  It came out absolutely fantastic – the spice of the ginger goes very well with the sweet peaches, and add that little something extra to make this spread stand out.  These preserves happen to go absolutely perfect with Beth’s orange chocolate chip scones.  Try it, you will not be disappointed.  They also go very well with crumpets, english muffins, on vanilla ice cream, and nearly anything else. 

Ginger Peach Preserves

From Mirj via food.com

• 3 lbs peaches
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a pot of boiling water, drop peaches to cook for about 1 minute, or until the skins loosen.  Remove from the boiling water and immediately immerse into a waiting ice bath.  Remove peach skins and chop into small uniform pieces.  Add the peaches, sugar, ginger, and lemon juice to a thick bottomed skillet and cook for about 30 minutes or until the mixture appears thickened.  Cool and enjoy!!

If you plan on canning these preserves – I found this guide to be particularly helpful.  I processed (boiled) mine for 15 minutes in the jars.  Good luck!