I only started making my own jams a year ago, but my little jars of summer sunshine helped our family survive our first Chicago winter. Canning is one of those things that seems completely daunting but is actually really easy. Yesterday, I shared some quick and easy blueberry jam recipes. Later next week, I’ll also share some really fun ways to can the peaches that are so in season right now. But today I have a great giveaway to get you started canning.
One of the reasons people are scared to make their own preserves is the equipment they think they need, but the truth is that all you need is two large stock pots, a funnel, and some jars with new lids. That’s it. Of course, there are many things you can buy to make the canning process easier, but if you just want to try it out, pick up a dozen jars at your local supermarket and a packet of pectin and you’re all set.
This basket really makes canning easy and gives a great intro to the jam making process.
THE GIVEAWAY:
The winner was randomly selected using the “And the Winner Is” WordPress Plugin. Tabethia Foulk was selected to receive the discovery kit. As this is her first year making jam, it should come in handy! Congrats Tabethia and thanks for entering.
The Ball Canning Discovery Kit is another great way to try canning for the first time, and it’s what I’m giving away today. The kit comes with:
- A blue polypropylene rack that helps you lift the cans out of boiling water
- 3 1-pint jars
- An easy to use canning instructions recipe book
- Coupons for additional jars
HOW TO ENTER:
To enter to win, please leave me a comment about your favorite type of jam and whether you’ve ever made homemade jams before. Feel free to share links to recipes as well! I’ll select the winner at random after midnight on Friday, August 12. Contest limited to US residents only.
And there’s many ways to earn additional chances to win, just make sure to return here to leave comments for each additional entry. You can:
- Follow @Frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
- Tweet about this contest.
- Like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page
- Post about this contest on your Facebook page.
- Post about this contest on your blog.
- Subscribe to the Chefdruck Musings RSS Feed.
- Tweet about this contest on multiple days, and you’ll get multiple entries.
Just don’t forget to leave me a comment each time you perform an entry action so that you get credit.
I love strawberry jam. I’ve made that and mixed berry jam before, but I’m still a novice.
I’d love to replicate my grandmother’s spiced grape jam.
I follow you on twitter.
I really enjoy making jams and two of my new favorites are:
Strawberry Ginger Ale Jam
and
Peach Bellini Jam
Yummo!!
My favorite jam to make is blueberry- lime
It was one of the first I ever made!
I love anything with strawberry in it, strawberries are definitely my favorite. I haven’t made any jam yet but I just starting canning last weekend. So far I’ve only made pickles but I am going to attempt to make some salsa and jam this weekend. Wish me luck
I loved my mom’s strawberry rhubarb preserves and haven’t had them in years. I made jam as a teenager but want to try it again. Right now I only put up pickles.
I like peach jam/jelly. I have never made my own yet as this is my first year canning and I just made my own canned peaches without using a pressure cooker. Forgot what that process is called. lol So I could use this since Im a newbie. lol
My favorite jam of all is blackberry! It just cannot be beat for summertime flavor. I learned to jam a couple years ago when a much older friend of mine offered to teach me. She passed away about a year ago, and everytime I preserve something new, I think she would be really proud to know that she passed information on to another generation.
I liked you on facebook and I love to can. My favorite is blueberry jam. Enter me in your giveaway please. Thanks
I made strawberry freezer jam for the first time this year, and that has definitely been delicious! I also made blackberry, but I don’t like blackberries, so that one is for the guys in my house. *lol*
I like you on Facebook!
My favorite jam to make is Apricot! I started making jam last summer. It has become an obsession:) I also love making blueberry jam and strawberry-kiwi jam!
My favorite kind of homemade jam is strawberry. I also like apple butter. I have not made any in a long time.
Hi there !!! I those your blog, follow you on Twitter (dsmwinelover) and also on Facebook (as myself and my blog City Girl, Country Life). My favorite type of jam (jelly actally) that I have made is dandelion. Tomorrow I am going to work on an apple sage jelly that a friend shared with me. I am a canning NUT, having aught the big from my mother in law
I’m following you on Twitter!
I have always wanted to make jam, but never have. I guess I am just nervous to. I would love to try and make a berry jam.
I’m now liking the FB fan page!
Have now Tweeted about the giveaway!
Have subscribed to the RSS feed, too!
I LOVE blackberry jam! I have made my own freezer jam for a few years now, but have recently started canning jam. I look forward to making many of the usual varieties and also some more uncommon ones combining things from my garden like rose petals, lemon balm and lavender.
I love strawberry jam! But I’m hoping to do my first canning this summer
This is my first year making jamsn jellys last month my gram and i made strawberyy jam and strawberry rhubarb butter. This month we are wanting to make blueberry jam. I am so excited.
Strawberry. I have many MANY fond memories of my grandma making home made strawberry jam after sending my sister and I out to pick strawberries. Sadly, it’s the one family tradition that I’ve never gotten into, because as you mentioned, I’ve always thought it involves just so much STUFF. Living in an apartment, I’ve never found myself with an excess of room, so canning goes untried…
There is nothing better on a grey day to have some nice fresh rolls warm from the oven with a little butter and some home made strawberry jam…
Did these, as well:
Like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page
Post about this contest on your Facebook page.
Have now posted this contest to FB!
It’s hard to pick a favorite…it’s a toss up between apricot and strawberry. Hmmm, I wonder what apricot strawberry would be like! Thanks so much for the opportunity to win this.
I’m all over the canning, making strawberry jam is my favorite!!
I follow you on Twitter!
I like you on Facebook!
I am now following you on twitter. So happy to have stumbled upon your blog! Looking forward to reading more!!
I receive your feed in Google Reader!
I saw learned about your blog via the Food in Jars Facebook page. Our favorite kind of jam over here is boysenberry! We just went berry picking a couple of weeks ago to make the jam but I psyched out and wound up freezing the berries for later. I have always wanted to can my own food, I know that once I get started I won’t stop! We have five plum trees, an apple tree, a whole long bed of strawberries and our veggie garden grows every year so canning is a skill I need I need to add to my arsenal!
I absolutely love black raspberry jam. We have the berries growing in our yard and they are prolific and delicious!
I posted the contest on my facebook page. I wanna win!!!!
Just yesterday I made sugar free cherry, blueberry jam. It is so wonderful, not too sweet! It is sweetened with apple juice concentrate and I improvised and tossed in some almond extract. Absolutely yummy! My boyfriend is diabetic but anyone would love it, diabetic or not.
Thank you for posting the Give-away!!! I love and have made Sweet Potato Butter before.
I’m new to canning, unless you include the homemade apple butter that my extended family makes every couple of years outside in an old copper kettle. But that’s not really under my supervision, I’m just an extra pair of hands. This summer I’ve put up a few batches of pickles. My favorite jam right now is my friend’s mother-in-law’s pear honey and I hope to make it myself this year. I’d love to win this canning set, I’ve seen it on-line but it’s not in any of my local stores!
Thanks for your blog!
Jelly and jam and marmalade….Oh My! There is nothing more gorgeous than those sweet jars of love lined up on a shelf! I have just started learning and I love it! I’ve had some misses for sure…strawberry jam that didn’t set, cranberry-orange jam that refuses to thicken but, the successes are a wonderful reward. My raspbery jam turned out so well I actually gave some beautiful jars as gifts. This opens up a whole new world of gift giving love! My biggest problem is the actual canning. The HUGE water-bath canner that I found at a thrift store is actually too large for my stove top. I have been canning a few jars at a time in a soup pot and though the jars seal, I worry that the clanking together in the pot might cause problems. Thanks for your wonderful website! Now, if I only could only find a way to use 8 jars of unset strawberry jam…..
My favorite jam to make is ginger-pear jam – my yoga instructor begs for it all of the time!
I love home canning, and my favorite jams are a toss-up between blueberry jam and fig preserves. Yum! Excuse me, I need to go check out the fridge now!
My favorite jam is apricot/pineapple. I have made freezer jam before but am very interested in canning my own.
My favorite jam so far is peach jalapeno. It is sweet with that hot zing to it!
My favorite jam that I have made is strawberry. I cannot believe how wonderful homemade strawberry jam made with fresh in-season berries is – wow!
I just liked your facebook page. So glad you are in Chicago as I live in a nearby suburb.
I LOVE raspberry jam my friend makes and gifts to me. But it’s now my turn to try and return the favor and make her some jam. I’ve never done it, we did pickles and beets together, but I want to try some different kinds of jams. Thanks for the contest.
My favorite jam is Choke Cherry Jam!! I have never made it by myself but used to pick the berries with my Mum to make jam as a child!
I just subscribed to your blog!
I have canned off & on for many years, and I do love to do it. I just seem to have a hard time finding the extra time to do very much. My cousin & I began making apple butter together a couple of years ago, as I have an apple tree in my yard. Love doing it with her. We are both only children & are actually more like sisters!! Last year I made apple cinnamon preserves!! Yummy!!!!
Thanks!!!
Debbie
I love, love, love blueberry jam (and strawberry, raspberry, blackberry jam!) and have tried canning without proper equipment- just my trusty Revereware stockpot. It’s a chore! I’ve been looking at this canning basket but we’re on a zero budget right now so I can’t afford to buy it- how I would love to win this!
I have just bought a ball canning book. I have never canned before and would love to learn how. My favorite jam is blueberry.
I love making Jam and Jelly .. I have never made grape so that is my next project for sure!
I always make mint jam because I have mint growing in my yard and it grows like wild if you don’t keep it cut back.
I made a balsamic strawberry jam this summer that I consider the best jam I’ve ever eaten.
And I follow you on twitter
I have never canned before and like many, are kind of scared to! My mom and sister do a lot of canning, but I’ve always had the excuse that I used to have a small kitchen and live alone, so nobody to share with or get help from! My favorite jam is classic strawberry although I love trying new flavors
I am a fan on Facebook.
when I was a kid, mom always went to one of those pick your own strawberries patches for fresh berries. we’d spend a day making jam enough for the whole year. I didn’t make any this year, but I did last year. they were delish!
I totally agree about it being a daunting task to get started on canning. This will be my first year to give it a try. A friend just gave me some blueberries and I thought I would try making blueberry jam. Blueberry and strawberry are my favorites.
Love making peach jam from our own peach tree.
My favorite jam is strawberry jam. I made it once but I need to try again with a different recipe.
I’ve never made any myself, but my favorite is the homemade black raspberry jam my mom makes. So delicious!
I follow you on Twitter @MommaStaciA
I’m a Facebook fan.
And I subscribe to your RSS. Thanks!
i like you…i like you…i REALLY like you. on facebook
thanks for a give away hope i win!!!
I have never canned before, but now that I am retired, I would really like to try making jams and jellies. My favorite jam is strawberry, but peach would be a close second. I’m also very jealous of one of my facebook friends who is into canning and always posting fabulous pictures of all her homemade goodies.
I love Apricot jam. I used to make it with my grandma when i was a kid and want to start making my own with my kids.
I like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page
I shared (posted) about this giveaway on my FB page
I am following frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
I follow you on FB.
My favorite jam is cucumber ginger. A new recipe I picked up just this year, but is it ever good.
Hi there, i was just scrolling through my facebook news feed when i came across your contest. It of course intriqued me. The Ball canning discovery kit is something i do not actually have. I should first tell you that I am a small Homemade Jam & Jelly Business owner so i hope i still qualify for this contest. I started making Jams 16 years ago when my oldest son was born and at 4 months old diagnosed with cancer. (he is 16 now and doing great) I had to quit my job back then to stay home and care for him and take him back & forth to doctors for chemo etc. each week. I was a bit bored during my free time and needed something to do. My first Jam was Strawberry Jam and i can still see the Jam boiling over the pot and all over the stove, lol. That began my hobby which today has turned into a business but only after I lost my job in 2009 and needed something else to fall back on. While i don’t make millions i can honestly say I am in my happy place when i am cooking my jams. Ok so anyway.
My favorite Jam i make (i make over 40 so this is a tough one) CARROT CAKE JAM! I absolutely love this Jam and when i first made it less than two years ago i made it from a recipe i found in a book i bought from Tractor Supply Company and though wow, this sounds interesting. However i never thought it would be so great and it has become one of my most popular Jams.
My sons love raspberry jam so I guess that is my favorite to make.
I subscribe to your RSS feed
Love apple butter!
Liked on FB!
I tweeted about the contest
I have grown peaches and made preserves this year for the first time in at least 20 years, and then I made crystallized ginger peach marmalade, and it is to die for! I don’t have all the modern canning equipment, just bought the jars, lids and went to work. I have just been having a grand time, tomorrow is pear day, can’t wait! I would love to win this package, I could really use it! Thanks—
I just started canning and made my first triple-berry-lime jam, and i’m thinking it is now my favorite jam ever!
Strawberry Rhubarb. I have made homemade jam a few times at parent’s house, my Dad introduced me to canning.
I just started making jam again after not doing it for years, , I just taught my sons g/f how to make blueberry jam after we went to a u-pick patch this week, my fave jam to make is apricot/peach freezer jam
I have to say my favorite jam is wild black raspberry. I think its the seasonality of it. Blueberry is right up there too
I haven’t made jam yet; but love strawberry jam. I started canning last year and love it.
I liked your facebook page.
Strawberry jam is my favorite to make and to eat! Especially if I have picked the strawberries myself.
i am just getting into jam making this summer. so far my favorite is strawberry lavender. yum!
Spiced fig jam is my fave! I’ve done some canning and have just bought a couple of books. I really want to become a pro!
I made jellies and jams years ago. My favorites are strawberry ruhbarb and elderberry. I love to can my food because that way I always know what my family is eating.
Following you on Twitter.
I’m a fan on Facebook.
I just ‘liked’ you on facebook. This will be my first year canning.
This would sure help!
Shared this post on my Facebook page.
Love making jam…curd is my new thing! Hope I win!
I make a wonderful marmalade and a great green pepper jelly. I’d like to be able to make a good blueberry jam, but that seems to elude me.
I follow you on Twitter. (@pattietierney)
I “Like” you on Facebook.
I just tweeted this post.
I shared this post on Facebook.
I love wild plum jelly. I have made it but hate taking the little pits out. Hope I win.
My favorite homemade jam is pear vanilla jam yum! I stocked up on some fresh vanilla bean and then discover that pears aren’t the same here overseas. Alas the vanilla will have to wait for another project.
My favorite flavor is apricot, but I haven’t had any apricots to make jam with. The best tasting jam I have made is a spiced blueberry jam.
I liked on FB.
I Shared ON FB.
I have made jams before. My favorites are Strawberty, Apricot-Pinapple and Lavender peach.
Hmmm…my favorite jam is now peach bellini jam. Yes, I can.
I Love Apricot and Red Raspberry. My cousin makes the best jams & I always wanted to give it a try. The kit would really help get me started.
I love to make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam…. almost as much as I love to eat it!
I like peach jam
I like you on facebook
I follow you on Twitter
I am subscribed to your RSS
Having a tomato EXPLOSION!!!! Need to make tomato jam
Have made lots of jams and jellies throughout the years. My favorite is peach butter. Mmmmmmm!
I have canned jam and jelly before. My favorite is the strawberry jam because we grow the strawberries ourselves.
I have made apple jelly, not jam and I also have made apple butter. I love the smell of the apples and cinnamon cooking up and really enjoy it on toast in the winter. With all the additives in processed foods, not to mention the inflating prices, I have gotten back into canning my own foods just to keep with in my budget and feed healthy foods to my family.
Yes, I have made homemade jam. I like raspberry jam the best.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I am a email subscriber.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
Could use new canning equipment.
This is my first summer canning, and I’ve really had a lot of fun. My last canning project was peach preserves.
I love making jams and jellys. Just finished putting up peach.
I posted about it on FB.
I haven’t made jam before, but it’s on my list of things to try. Raspberry jam is definitely a favorite of mine.
I follow you on Twitter. @ArianyaNJ
I shared your giveaway on fb.
I liked your FB page.
I haven’t made jams before, but I am seriously giving it some consideration. I found a recipe for peach butter and I’m wanting to try it.
I like you on FB & told all my friends about it too. My 5 year old daughter and I want to start canning, I am trying to teach her everything I was taught by my grandmother & great grandmother. I would love to win this set to get us started.
I’ve never caned but my daughter does & I really would love to start to.
Just found you on Facebook…so excited to start my own canning!
I follow on Twitter. MsMissy62
I tweeted the giveaway.
Ball Discovery Canning Kit Giveaway http://bit.ly/oYg1nh
I like you on facebook.
I follow on rss google reader
Fav jam is grape. Best I ever made tangerine
Oh jeez, I’d love this!! Doing as many entries as possible
OK, so here’s what I did so far…
I followed @Frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
I tweeted about this contest.
I liked the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Page
I posted about the contest on my Facebook page
I don’t have a blog.
I subscribed to the Chefdruck RSS Feed.
…and I WILL tweet about this contest on multiple days!
Thanks for the opportunity!!
You should come back and do separate comments for each of these actions so that you get multiple entries. Thank you for all your support for this contest!
I make my own jam and am starting to pass the same skill to my two daughters. It is truly an amazing homemaking skill!
My favorite Jelly Is Guava.. It’s a south florida tradition. I have used a hand me down black/blue enamel water bath canner from my grandmother all of my life, until it finally developed a rust spot that turned into a leak. I need to replace it, but have to save save save $$$$
I always make strawberry and blueberry jams each year. Some years I also make peach and raspberry.
I will be shaing this on my FB page . I have a couple of friends that I’m trying to convert to food preseration. This may just be the way to get them to take the plung
I have just started making homemade jam … and my favorite so far is a roasted pepper/berry jam!
I love strawberry jam!
I like on facebook
I want to get started canning.My favorite is Strawberry Jam. Prices are out of controll and the homemade just taste better.
I follow on twitter!
My favorite jam is rhubarb. My grandma made the best! I have made some freezer jams in the past.
I thought my favorite was strawberry until I had a bunch of different berries and decided to put them together to see what happened. It was great – I am just sorry I did not write down what I did. I am trying to get my three daughters started canning. They have tried the strawberry freezer jam. Maybe this year will be the year.
My daughter and I just started canning this summer. My favorite jam so far is a Peach Chipotle Jam.
I just linked this on my facebook page.
I love raspberry jam and I have made it before, but not as successfully as I would have liked.
My favorite is jalapeno jelly. I would like to make some cherry jam this summer.
Follow @Frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
mtmamahen
Tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/mtmamahen/status/99868209401970688
Like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page
wendi n
following via RSS feed
I love all jams.. really! This was my first year to make strawberry, blueberry and seedless blackberry jam. I just dove it and decided to tackle it. Not nearly as scarey as I thought it would be! I’ve taken canning classes and have all kinds of books but found myself relying on the teaspoon in ice method the most.. and instinct!
I’m a newbie to all of this and I am hooked! I want to can everything now. I love handing out the goodies I have made as it’s such a simple thing but people really appreciate it! I also look forward to giving out my jams at Christmas. There is something romantic/nostalgic about giving such a gift.
As I mentioned, I am still learning. Who knew there was a basket for lifting out the jars?? Duh! That would have saved me from many tussles with those jars boiling on the bottom of the pot.
Marcia
My favorite is strawberry! I loved it ever since I was a kid. I want to start canning this fall my husband is dialysis so his diet is strict..and canning fruits and veggies will be easy on our budget. Have a blessed day.
I follow frenchmoodiemom on twitter. (twitter: tweets4fun)
vamomto3girls(at)yahoo(dot)com
I tweeted about the giveaway
My all time favorite is black raspberry. We have so many bushes all over our property. My problem is, I can not get this recipe to quite set up the way the others I make does. I follow the directions, but continue to have the same problem. Any suggestions would be great.
Love my aunts grape jelly.
Yes, I’ve made jam before and I like strawberry the best.
I have jellies and jams- Love love pear preserves and fig jams.
Ilike GUAVA JELLY AND Guava Butter the best . I just made 1gallon of juiceand put it in the freezer for now .
My favorite jelly is red wine jelly. I’ve never canned before, but I’m anxious to try soon!!
I am new to canning, my master certified teacher and I made strawberry balsamic jam last weekend and it is delicious
I love making blueberry Jam… there is none that compares to the flavor when you make it yourself.
My favorite jam is Wild Grape, made from grapes picked from the wild grapes that grow at the back of our lot. My favorite canning story is making wild grape jam with the 10 year old and 7 year old neighbor boys who then drew me a picture of our step by step wild grape jam making process. Priceless!
My favorite is homemade strawberry jam (although I hate fresh straswberries – go figure. LOL).
I used to make jam all the time but I haven’t for years. I’d like to start canning again though
i just started canning july 1st. i decided to try it since i have a garden, i wont waste anything. i made banana jam, rasp. chocolate jam and i ran across the recipe for carrot cake jam that sounds wonderful!! i love the rasp chocolate jam but i cant wait to buy more jars so i can try the carrot cake jam!!! i dont have the discovery kit yet, so i would be greatful if i won this!
and thats really nice that you are doing a giveaway. it always puts a little ray of sunshine to a persons day when theres a glimmer of hope
I love a good strawberry jam. I’ve never canned anything myself but it’s always on the to-do list to try. Need that extra push.
I make lots & lots of homemade jam. but my favorite remains plain old strawberry jam.
8-6 http://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/100014281524903937
I have made homemade jam-strawberry, apple butter, and peach
e-mail subscriber
I’m new to canning and love it! I have been exploring unusual recipes for jams and jellies. I think the prickly pear jelly was very good, but the jalapeno jelly went fast also. If I was to go out today and gather supplies for 1 jelly, I guess it would be dutch apple pie jelly. That was delicious! I have so many more though I would like to try!
As a kid, anytime there was a peach flavored option, whether it be drink, candy or – JAM – that’s what I chose.
I follow Chefdruck via RSS.
My favorite is sugar free fig preserves made with xylitol!
8-7 http://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/100384516794880000
My grandmother canned everything you can think of. Of course, I didn’t really appreciate that fact as a young child and would now kill for her amazing canned peaches or jam! My dad actually makes a wonderful strawberry jam from her recipe and I will quickly acquire said recipe if I win this neat-o kit!
8-8 http://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/100778392877670400
My favorite is strawberry jam.
I have never made homemade jams before.
I Follow @Frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
@winsome6
tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/winsome6/status/100870981144412161
I Like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page.
I Subscribe to the Chefdruck Musings RSS Feed.
I love black raspberry jam
following you on twitter
@ohiocatfish
http://twitter.com/#!/OhioCatfish/status/101130263932841984
8-9 https://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/101137260161933312
I like strawberry jam. I’ve never made my own before. Thanks for the chance.
http://twitter.com/#!/OhioCatfish/status/101479521227767809
I’ve made wild black raspberry jam – yum!
I’ve made wild black raspberry jam – yum!
following you on twitter
fan on facebook
I blogged here: http://thenewmommiezblend.blogspot.com/2011/08/feeling-lucky.html
8-11 https://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/101865310415626240
whoops, wrong link. it should be https://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/101865322600071168. sorry about that!
http://twitter.com/#!/OhioCatfish/status/102119884011470850
https://mobile.twitter.com/simplydab/status/102173907657822210
I Follow @Frenchfoodiemom on Twitter
I Like the Chefdruck Musings Facebook Fan Page
https://www.facebook.com/simplydab/posts/194292370633623
I Subscribe to the Chefdruck Musings RSS Feed.