Quick and Easy Fig Jam

Do you have a bunch of yummy figs laying around that are practically minutes away from going bad?  Do you want to feel like Joanna Gaines, without TOO much effort?  Do you not have a ton of ingredients?  Are you a jam novice?  Then this recipe is for you!

Yesterday, we went to the market, and found ourselves surrounded by the decadent and sensual fruit - figs.  We just had to buy some!  Unfortunately, with it being from the market, they didn't have a long shelf-life, and I was racking my brain trying to think of a way to make them last just a little longer.

Enter the idea of jam.

I've never made jam before, but it is one of my favorite things to indulge in, so I figured I'd give it a try.  I found a recipe for fig jam here, and tweaked it a little (basically halved it - to fit one Bon Maman sized jar approx., plus that's all the figs I had left after snacking on them for 24 hours.)  

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar 

1/4 cup water

230 gr/8 oz of figs

1/4 cup lemon juice (about the juice of one lemon)

Directions:

1. Weigh and wash 230 gr. figs. 

2. Combine the sugar and water in a small/medium sauce pan on a medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

3. In the meantime, de-stem your figs, and cut them into small chunks.  Also, juice your lemon.  (I felt particularly resourceful, because we'd already used the lemon for zesting - booyah!)

4. Add figs and lemon juice to the simple syrup.  Bring to a boil.

5. Cover it partially, reduce heat, and allow it to simmer for one hour.

6. After an hour, if you don't like the level of chunkiness, use a potato masher to break it up some more.  Take it off the heat, and allow it to cool.  Then move it into a jar, and it should keep for 2 weeks!  Voila!

For Aidan's post-nap snack, I cut up some bread, added some local walnut cheese (yummm), and then the jam.

He loved it, Dan loved it, I loved it... we all loved it!

What I loved most, was that the beautiful figs didn't get wasted, and that I made something new!