Apricot Jam-Hungarian Style

Hungarians love apricots and apricot jam so of course we wanted to know how to make it. First you have to pick the apricots. No dangerous ladders here--just shake the branches with a long stick...

then pick them off the ground.

Here Caroly and Andi are showing how they are pitted...

and weighed--4 kilos apricots for a batch.

They are then boiled until they break down into shreds. Then 2 kilos sugar is added.

Here Andi is sterilizing the many pickle, spaghetti sauce, and other jars and lids collected through the year.

Julia is filling them to the brim. They are capped and turned over for 5 minutes to seal.

Then they are packed in a bucket with a blanket to slowly cool.

I'm the official taster. The jam is heavenly. Since there is no pectin, you use the jam within a few days of opening it--but our experience is that this is no trouble. We put it on our chicken, in salads, in musli, and of course on bread.

As you probably have guessed by now, we aren't going hungry in Hungary! We'll diet when we get home!