Wonderings from the Wack

DH and I have been making jam together as long as we have been married. Last year my mom and I made chutney. But I've never done barbeque sauce. I have a recipe book that is very good for making Christmas gifts from. It has the sauce recipe I used, plus a sweet and sour sauce, dry mixes, etc. The recipe make enough to fill 3 small jam jars ( the 1 cup size ) plus some extra. I put the extra in the fridge for us to use. The other 3 jars I will likely give away.

For about an hour's worth of work it was pretty easy. The sauce itself was a no-brainer. Our long-time not-so-secret way of sterilizing jars has been the dishwasher. DH's sis told me her secret is to also put the red hot jars straight out of the dishwasher into pre-heated 200F oven. Make sure the screw on lids are clean. Put the seals into into a metal or glass bowl and pour boiling hot water over them. Set out a towel, fish the jars out of the oven with a mitt onto the towel, fill with hot sauce ( jam, whatever ), use tongs to take the sterilized seals out of the bowl and place on top of jar. Screw on lid just until it's tight. Leave the jars on the towel for a few hours to cool. As they do, the lids "pop" and make a lovely seal. Easier than processing in a water bath!