Every 10 years or so we will have enough cold in our winter to get wild plums. They are fairly sour but delicious and not to be wasted since they are a rare treat. This year we had a cold winter, and enough cold hours to yield plums! My mother-in-law has a tree, and harvested a nice batch for me. I made plum preserves out of some of them, but the pits don't like to come loose, so it makes for a messy job. I found this great spiced plum recipe for canning whole plums, which is great because you don't have to chop and pit them. And they smelled divine, and will be a wonderful accompaniment to roast pork or turkey right around Christmas time. This recipe makes about 4 quarts.
Pack your quart jars with the plums, really cram them in there. Next, remove the plums from the jars, wash both the jars and wash your plums and put the plums in a crock or glass bowl. In a saucepan heat 6 cups sugar and 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Boil for 5 minutes, then pour the mixture over the plums and let sit for 24 hours. The next day reheat the syrup. In the meantime boil your quart jars for 10 minutes (make sure the water is over the jars, and don't forget your lids). Fill the jars with the plums, a cinnamon stick, a couple cloves, a star anise, and a slice of ginger. Cover the plums with the hot syrup leaving a little space at the top. Clean off any syrup from the rim of the jar before placing the lids on. Process the jars in boiling water for 15 minutes before pulling out and cooling. Don't they look gorgeous?
