There are two interesting features about the area where we live. One is the fairly frequent power outages, lasting anywhere from half an hour to a day or two, for which our neighbors all have generators. I've tried to talk Penguinman into getting one, but so far, he's refused - he doesn't think the minor inconvenience is worth the cost.

The other is the abundance of fresh produce here. We have farmer markets about four days a week, and a plethora of farmers who sell directly from their fields. One of the best ones around sells huge, gorgeous, juicy, ripe, sweet O’Henry peaches, which I’d never heard of until I started telling people about them and their eyes got all big and round and they all screamed, “O’HENRY’S??? Omygawd - those are absolutely the best peaches in the known world!”

You know what? They were right. I came home with a half-lug of absolutely gorgeous peaches, 22 beauties, at the peak of ripeness. Penguinman swooned at my feet and then started gorging himself on them.

OK, we have a problem. How are we going to preserve these puppies so we can enjoy them all year?

I found a recipe for a cooked peach preserve and spent a day peeling, chopping, cooking, ladling, processing... and came out of it with what looked like peach jello with some peach pieces floating on top and tasted incredibly sweet, probably thanks to the 7 cups of sugar I had to use. Uh... no.

Everyone I talked to raved about the superiority of freezer jam. I’m a little nervous about those power failures and PM's disinclination to buy a generator. But maybe his fresh-peach-freezer-jam-mania will persuade him to pop for the damn thing - I sure haven’t succeeded. So off I went again to the market and came home with a batch of Ball 8-oz. Plastic Freezer Jam Jars.


FEATURES

• My Ball 8-oz. Plastic Freezer Jam Jars are made of a heavy semi-translucent plastic.

• They have purple lids that twist on and off, although I didn’t know that at first and snapped them on.

• They hold eight ounces of whatever you want to freeze.

• They have a fill line, above which you shouldn’t put anything so there’s room for expansion when the jam freezes.

• They can be written on, which is a good thing because labels don’t stick to them very well.

• They come five to a package, and at least when I bought them, they came with a free packet of freezer jam pectin, sufficient for one recipe that will fill all five jars.

• They’re stackable, so you can pile them up in the freezer.

• They aren’t heat-proof. That’s why they’re made for freezer jam.


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THEM

• I like the fact that they can be stacked. In my somewhat vain attempt to get organized, I’ve hit on the brilliant idea of using storage containers of the same product line, so they are consistent in shape and don’t waste space. So I’ve pitched all my old cottage cheese and cream cheese tubs. My new Ball 8-oz. Plastic Freezer Jam Jars fit the bill beautifully, and although they’re tapered, they stack nicely. And if you want to really maximize space, you can store alternate ones upside down.

• They look nice. You can make freezer jam in anything that seals tightly, including regular canning jars and the aforementioned plastic tubs, as long as you leave plenty of head-room for expansion when the jam freezes. But who wants an old margarine tub on the breakfast table? If you aren’t into spooning the preserves into a little cut-glass bowl (which is really the best way to show off your beautiful preserves,) these jars are attractive-neutral enough to use at the table.

• They’re reusable. Ball says they can be put in the top rack of the dishwasher, but I wouldn’t. I scrubbed them by hand before using them and after Penguinman emptied them. They’re a handy size for storing just about anything.

• The translucency means that I can see exactly how much fresh peach jam is left - not much, after PM gets his spoon into it. In the week since I made the first batch, he’s gone through three jars.


WHAT I’D CHANGE IF I COULD

• I have a hard time writing on a slippery curved surface, so I wish labels would stick to them, but they don’t. So I’m counting on being able to recognize the peach jam next winter. Assuming that there’s any left, which doesn’t seem likely right now.


SUMMARY AND VERDICT

After I killed the half-lug-worth of peaches by making preserves, slicing and freezing a couple, and preparing pie fillings and freezing them in plastic freezer bags in pie plates so they’ll fit when it’s time to bake, I went off to the farm again and bought another half-lug. It would be cheaper if I just bought a full lug, but I can’t process ‘em fast enough. These guys are good - by far the sweetest, juiciest peaches I’ve ever tasted - and I’m looking forward to enjoying them next winter and spring, thanks to my Ball 8-oz. Plastic Freezer Jam Jars. Come to think of it, I probably need to go get another half-lug.

And maybe I’ll get my generator out of this.

Five stars.

Recommended: Yes