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To tell the truth, if amateurs of homemade preserves got down to it only now, they would lose wonderful strawberries this year, which are probably definitely over. However, it is the season for other fruits and it is worth taking advantage of it.

For several years now I have been preparing jams, jellies and preserves with less sugar than required by the regulations. After putting them in jars, I usually pasteurize them, and after opening them you just have to eat them faster. Less sweet content is less durable.

Where were those times when jam or jam was placed in clay pots, covered with paper or cloth, stored in cool pantries. They were extremely sweet (and sugar was not cheap) and so valuable that these treasures were dosed sparingly.

Today, industrial products have supplanted home-made products in most homes. And although they do not match the taste of old-fashioned preserves, they certainly "come out" cheaper and do not require work. But we foodies prefer homemade ones, which, although they require a bit of work, retain the taste and smell of summer and are perhaps as good as Grandma's.

In our cellars and hiding places, we store empty jars of various delicacies, so that after washing, boiling, and even rinsing with alcohol, we fill them again during the fruit season. This is a very sensible form of saving, recycling and eco-behavior. One small obstacle: Polish products sold in jars are labeled with such good glue that scraping, soaking or even boiling does not help. Apricot halves jam in a clean mayonnaise jar looks appetizing if there are remains of the previous sticker.

However, it is worth trying to get a few jars without traces of labels and prepare a jam that will give a lot of pleasure to the palate in winter. It's about apricot jam, in which whole fruit halves are immersed in dark orange, thick and tasty syrup.

1.5 kg of not very ripe apricots, 1 kg of sugar or about ½ cup less

Destone the apricots and cut them in half. Put the sugar in a pot, pour half a glass of water and bring to a boil. Drop the apricot halves into the boiling syrup and shake the pot slightly to coat them all with the syrup and set aside. After it has cooled slightly, put the pot on the burner and bring the contents to a boil, but do not boil. When it starts to boil - set aside. Repeat this procedure several times (8-10) for 3 days (when we remember to bring the jam to a boil and set aside). On the third day, it should contain glassy fruit and thick syrup.

Bring to boiling and hot put into prepared (boiled and rinsed with alcohol) jars, close the lids also boiled and rinsed with alcohol.

Each lid, when the contents of the jar starts to cool down, should pop, then we have a guarantee that the jar is hermetically sealed. Just a beautiful sticker with the name and let's wait for the first autumn desserts. And tasty!