Apricot Nectar

My Dad gave me a huge bowl of apricots last week. They were the biggest apricots I've seen. They were also very sweet. I wasn't sure what to do with all of them. I finally decided to make them into apricot nectar. Dwight and I like adding mango nectar to orange juice to sweeten it up a bit, so I thought we'd try apricot nectar.

I washed the apricots, sliced them in half and took the pit out. I boiled them for a few minutes and removed the skin. I put the apricots in the blender and blended them with some sugar and lemon juice. I put it all in a pan and cooked it until it boiled. I also added a little of the water that I boiled the apricots in to thin it a bit.

I put some empty jars in the oven set to the lowest temperature to sterilize them. I didn't have lids for my canning jars, so I used old spaghetti sauce and pickle jars with their lids. I put the hot nectar in the jars and when they cooled, the jars sealed. I don't think they will keep at room temperature because I didn't cook them in a water bath, but I think they will keep for awhile in the fridge.

The nectar does taste great mixed with orange juice. It's even good by itself. Little by little I'm learning how to preserve some of the fresh fruits and vegetables we have access to this time of year.