3-4 pounds of Plums
1 ½ cups of Water
7 ½ cups of Sugar
1 package Pectin

Wash and pit the plums. Roughly dice the plums (with skins ON), making sure not to crush them, so more juice gets into the pot. Place all of the plums in a Dutch Oven with the water and bring to a boil. (Scrape your cutting board into the pot to get all the plum juice, every drop counts!) Reduce heat to medium and simmer the plums for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, line a colander with 2 layers of cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Carefully pour the plum mixture into the colander (you will need to do at least two colanders-full, it won’t all fit in the colander at once) and let strain. You can GENTLY stir the mixture to aid in straining, but be sure not to push any pulp through the cheesecloth. (If you have two colanders and large bowls, use them both to save time.) Let the plum mixture drain/strain for at least an hour, preferably 2 or 3. Throw away the remaining plum meat and skins.

After washing the Dutch Oven, combine 5 ½ cups of the plum juice and the pectin in the pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, and then stir in the sugar. Return to a rolling boil, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and immediately spoon/ladle/pour into sterilized jelly jars, leaving ¼ inch head-room. Process for 10 minute in a boiling water canner. Let cool for 24 hours before removing bands. Makes 10-12 half-pint jars of jelly.