How to make Earl Grey Peach Jam

I nearly lost her.

We were maybe 10 and 12 (I being the eldest) and we were spending the day at Wild Water Kingdom with our parents. The two of us went off to the wave pool for the second time that day, and slowly waded towards the deep end, lazily swimming and diving and playing as we moved. Like all children, we weren't very aware of ourselves -- of how hot the sun was beating down on us, of how long we'd been swimming, of how tired we were getting.

The wave machine started up and there we were in the deep end.

We'd had the energy to swim against the waves to the shallow water the last time we'd been in the pool, but this time the machine seemed to make bigger waves, and the pull felt greater, and we both seemed to get tired all of the sudden. I don't remember us saying too much; we both seemed to know the other was too tired to swim back. We spotted a ladder to one side and swam towards it intending to climb out. But the waves, which originated from each side of the pool, were strongest just where the ladder was and it took nearly all our energy to swim to the ladder. M went ahead of me, grasping the rails and trying to pull herself up the steps. But her body was exhausted and the waves kept coming. I watched her use the last of her energy as she tried unsuccessfully to pull herself up to free her torso.

Her head went under.

I could see her body relax, as it gave way to the motion of the water. I swam to her, grabbed her body and pulled and pushed and kicked and heaved and up she went into the air, taking a breath, and now released from the pull of the undertow, awkwardly grabbed for the lip of the pool deck and we both pushed and pulled until her body made it to dryness. Once she was out, I was able to climb my way up and out and there, in the bright sunshine, assaulted by the innocent shouts of children and the happy laughter of water play, we looked around, stunned, and up at two lifeguards who slowly scolded us for using the ladder in the deep end. I was indignant. But I was so young and I didn't have words. I felt such anger against these people who should have seen my sister's body struggling to hang on to life, whose job it was to save us, to see danger and to help, but instead they arrogantly, ignorantly reminded us of a rule.

My sister is one of the greatest gifts I have been given in this life.

Two years my junior, we've spent a wonderful childhood and now adulthood in each others' lives. We have a friendship whose richness and depth is difficult to articulate. It is not simply all that we have shared together, but it is how our personalities complement each other so well. I am more the extrovert, the talker, the passionate one. She is the steady introvert and she's been given more than a generous dose of common sense. And our shared sense of humour is magic.
Now that we are both married and have families of our own, we don't see each other as much. Which makes the time we do spend together special.

Working in the kitchen together allows us time to converse, catch up, laugh and let go. Perhaps that's why when we know we're all going to be together, we set such lofty goals in the kitchen, so that we get to be in it together, longer.
This past weekend was a long weekend and she and her family came up for a visit. We planned to make peach jam; we would split our handiwork. I bought the peaches ahead of time and after we put all four kids to bed, we set to work blanching the peaches, she peeled each one, and then we slowly stirred the pot of simmering peaches until we could pour jam the colour of pure sunshine, with the freshest smell of life, into warm, clean jars.

Earl Grey Peach Jam

Here's what you need:

Preserving tools -- Mason jars, canner, jar lifter, funnel, cooling rack
5 pounds fresh, ripe peaches
3 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Optional: 5 Earl Grey tea bags, one opened (to leave speckles of tea in the finished jam)

Slice a shallow 'x' in the the bottom of each of the peaches.

Blanch the peaches in a large pot, a few at a time, in boiling water, for 60 to 90 seconds.

Remove them with a slotted spoon, drop them into a bowl of very cold water for a couple minutes, pull them out and let them dry up a bit on paper towel.

Once dry and cool to touch, peel the skin from the flesh of the peaches. Quarter the peaches and then slice each quarter into smaller pieces. The larger the pieces, the chunkier your jam will be in the end.

Mix your peaches, the sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

While your peaches are sitting, wash your jars (you'll need 5 - 7), drop the lids into a small pot of boiling water and keep them simmering until you need them. Put your jars on a baking sheet in a 200 degree F oven and let them also sit until you're ready to use them.

Gently dump your peach mixture into a large, shallowish (if you've got it) pot and bring to a boil on high heat. (If you're using the Earl Grey tea, add the 4 closed and 1 opened bag now and let it cook with the jam. When the jam is finished, remove the bags before you ladle it into the jars.)

Leave your jam boiling over high heat for 10 minutes, stirring the whole while. (It's important to be attentive to your jam because it can burn really easily with all that sugar.)

Your jam will be ready when it reaches gel point. That means when you slop it against the side of the pot, it coats it a bit, kind of sticks. Or, when you're stirring the jam, you've felt it change, get thicker. There's other ways to tell gel point -- just do a online search if you need more info or pictures.

Turn off the heat. Pull your jars out of the oven carefully and put them on your workspace. Using a ladle, fill each of your jars with a funnel to 1/4 inch to the top. Put on the lids, screw the tops to lightly tight and then put them in a water bath with your jar lifter for 10 minutes.

Pull out your jars and set them on a cooling rack. You may hear the lids pop as they cool. Once cool, check each jars to ensure the lids have sealed properly.