12 Hour Marathon

Today was the first time I made so many bottles of jam. Took my mom & I a total of 12 hours to make 60 bottles of jam. But I have to admit, had a few smoke breaks, Mom had to watch her Taiwanese shows, talked to my dog every now & then and finally had to eat KFC my Dad bought for dinner and watch American Idol at the same time. All this for Fiesta Nite @ Plaza Mont Kiara tomorrow.

I had to skin some lemons, squeeze a few limes, beat up a dozen eggs, korek the tomatoes, karate chop numerous basil leaves, smash the ginger that thinks it's sweet, get the mint & sugar to make love and many other shoulder busting & feet tiring prep.

Oh here's how I sterilized & process the bottles. The jars have a boiling water bath twice. This process is according to the US National Center for Home Food Preservation. So you don't have to imagine that my jams are made in dirty old kitchens with rusty utensils & tools. But I did manage to break a jar and boil my thumb.

This is my plate test for my tomato basil jam... since it's extremely difficult & expensive to get a candy thermometer in Malaysia and I don't use pectin to gel any of my jams. This jam is the hardest of the three to gel properly. 

Well, I'm off for a nice cold shower after a long day of slaving in the kitchen and then to bed. It's another long day tomorrow. Remember, I'll Be Jammed! will be at Plaza Mont Kiara tomorrow from 4pm onwards. See you there.