Remember those cherries I posted about a few weeks ago?  When I made the drunken cherries, I took two baskets of the four that I had purchased and turned them into jam.  My mother in law sent me the cutest little book on jam making, Seasons of Jam by Jeannette Habit and I decided to try the recipe for cherry jam.

To make the jam, rinse, dry and pit 3 pounds of red tart cherries.  Combine the cherries with 2 cups of sugar and the juice of 1 lemon in a bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes.  Pour the mixture into a stainless steel or enamel pot and simmer for 30 minutes.  Be sure to stir it frequently and skim off any foam that forms.  Pour into a heat proof bowl, cover with parchment and chill overnight.

The next day, return the jam to the cleaned pot and boil on high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently and again, removing the foam as necessary.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.  It will get darker and the liquid will look more like a syrup.  Add 1/4 cup of Kirsch, Brandy or your favorite liqueur and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Cook until it reaches 210F, the jam should set properly.  Ladle into prepared canning jars, and you can process them as you wish.  For mine, I used the water bath method.  It will make 5-6 half pint jars.