canning continues

before my housemate, aryn, moves back east to pursue her graduate degree, i've been garnering all i can of her knowledge of canning. a couple weeks ago we went to pick peaches and plums in brentwood, ca - which turns out to be a disorienting gated-community-type suburb with random orchards hidden in the middle of it. we made peach and plum jam with this pectin i found at whole foods - and while i normally despise having to shop at "whole paycheck" as aryn calls it, this time they provided some pectin that changed my whole experience of jam. this stuff, pomona's universal pectin, uses calcium instead of sugar to activate its jelling power - meaning you can use a fraction of the amount of sugar that normal pectin requires (often one to one fruit to sugar, eew). now i can't justify using any other type of pectin. not to mention they have a "jamline" - really, that's what they call their phone question line.
following the success of our peach and plum jamming experience, aryn and i jarred up some heirloom tomatoes - taking advantage of that season and anticipating the long hard winter aryn has ahead of her in worcester, ma. we roasted the tomatoes in the oven until they melted into little puddles and then scooped them into sterilized jars, layering with lemon juice (to prevent botchalism, nobody wants that), olive oil and basil leaves. then put the jars back into the water bath for about 45 mins. all the jars sealed up tight (though i didn't do a good job of getting all the air bubbles out of my tomatoes, i hope that won't be a problem) and they look pretty and tasty.