Strawberry Fig Preserves


When my husband’s grandmother died, we bought the house she lived in. In the backyard is a enormous fig tree (I’ve posted a picture of it, with my dog standing near it so that you can_have an idea of_how large it is). A couple of summers ago, my mother-in-law and I made fig preserves, so I decided to make some again. This recipe is not from my grandmother’s box, but I felt as if not sharing this would be worse than breaking_the little rule of only posting my grandmother’s recipes. It’s a sin to not share how easy it is to make something so delicious. The recipe I’m using is one I found is a mix between what I remember from cooking them with my husband’s mom, and articles I found online to jog my memory. Also, you can use any flavor you like. When we made this last time, we had cherry, watermelon, lime, strawberry, and other flavors. We even mixed a few together. It’s ok to get creative. For this one, I just used strawberry.


For the record, it was delicous, and my neighbors were all very excited to recieve a jar.


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6 cups of fresh figs, 6 cups of sugar, 1 large box of jello, 6 pint canning jars, lids, and seals.


Jar Prep: Wash jars and lids very well with soap and water. The sterilizing feature works well on your dishwasher, as well. After this, many people boil the jars and lids in very large pots of water to heat them up and prep them. I looked for an alternate way online, since I don’t have very many large pots. This is what I did: Preheat your oven at 250 degrees, then place the jars and lids on a large cookie sheet. Warm them for about 20 minutes while your figs are cooking.


Wash figs well, and drain water. Remove any stems that may be left from picking the figs. Cut figs into pieces, and add them to the pot. Add sugar to pot. Cook figs and sugar on medium heat for about 25 minutes. Stir continuously. Mash the figs as you stir, to speed up the process. Heat the figs to boiling and continue to stir. Add one large package of strawberry jello, and mix well. Remove from heat. Pour the fig preserves into the pre-heated jars. Seal, and turn upside down until cool. Place in refrigerator to store.