There, a recipe for something that I apparently found in a magazine and put back years and years ago. I save that recipe as my granny made fig jam and I had never seen it in grocery stores. I LOVE FIG JAM.
Will share the recipe and also my story how and where we found this old fashion item actually on the grocery store shelf....but, unfortunately, not in the United States. When I saw the name of this recipe...I couldn't believe it. The name is even in French.
OK..here's the story....
We discovered St. Maartin from a cruise and the day we had there, we took a tour of the island which is divided into to two countries, Dutch (St. Maarten) and French (St. Martin ).
I remember clearly that the tour bus stopped on the French side of the island at a little cabanna so that everyone could try an island drink. "FIFTEEN MINUTES" came the insturctions from the driver.
Rum punch filled with fruit and a tempting sand path to the beach...our little group took a stroll to check it out~
There we discovered the most beautiful white beach lined with mangroves and palm...and a couple of benches.
~ we plopped down in paradise sipping our rum punch and enjoyed the Caribbean Sun.
Fifteen minutes meant nothing to us at this moment in time.
Suddenly out of the mangroves ran a native guy waving his arms and yelling..."THE BUS IS LEAVING, THE BUS!"
We jumped to our feet and beat a path to the waiting bus. The bus wasn't air-conditioned and all the other people had apparently been waiting for some time, as they were sweaty and not happy. As we scrambled onto the bus, we apologised profusely, but no one would even look at us. To make it worse, we were so happy we couldn't resist laughing into our hands...and laughed later and even years later when talking about it. We simple stole a few minutes of paradise.
We made a memory ~ of St. Maarten.
Our travels have taken us back to enjoy this wonderful island a couple of times ~ We are not ones to return to any one place, (as the world has too many temping places to see...) however, we enjoy the friends who invite us to come and stay with them...we just HAVE A BALL TOGETHER.
Each trip has been filled with all the things we all enjoy... sailing, restaurants, and local people, casinos, shopping, beaches, sailing, horseback riding on the beaches, playing cards and exploring~ just a lot of paradise.
Confiture de Figues is something we rush to buy for there, as well as take a stash home~as it is found only there. A product of France and made by the Bonne Maman line of jams, for some reason this one jam isn't carried by the stores who have other Bonne Maman.
I have asked Wegmans to see if they could order a case, however, no answer at this time.
Searching for it, Peach Preserves are another of my favorites...and the Bonne Manan is AWESOME. Expensive as it goes really fast. European style is to have with cheese, fruit and bread or crackers. That's our favorite to the point of serving as a dessert with a nice dessert wine.
Confiture de Figues
(Fig Jam)
Makes 2 pints
1 1/2 lbs. fresh figs
1 1/2 pounds sugar
1 small lemon, washed, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise
Put figs, sugar and lemons into a heavy medium pot, stir well, cover and let macerate at room temperature for 2 hours.
Boil fig mixture over medium-high heat, stirring often, until jam is dark and syrupy and temperature registers 215 degrees on a candy thermometer, 12 -14 minutes. Meanwhile submerge two pint canning jars, their lids and ring bands and a widemouthed funnel in a large pot of boiling water over medium high heat and sterilize for 10 minutes. Remove from hot water and transfer to a clean dish towel.
Using the funnel, fill each jar with hot jam to no more than 1/4" from rim. Wipe rims with a clean dish towel. place lids on jars, then screw on ring bands. Transfer filled jars to a canning rack, submerge in a pot of gently boiling water. (Jars should be covered by at least 1" of water)
and process for 10 minutes. Lift jars from water with jar tongs and place on dish towel; let cool undisturbed for 24 hours. To test that jars have properly sealed, press on center of lids. Remove your finger; if lid stay down, it is sealed. Refrigerate any jam that hasn't sealed and use within 4 weeks.
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