I picked figs 2 weeks ago until I couldn't stand it anymore.  I was up at the farm for 4 days and picked them every day.  My stash went into zip lock bags and then into the freezer.  It was hot, the mosquitoes were vicious and then there were the bees!  Everybody wants to eat something.  I don't have any pictures of the cleaning, chopping  or cooking phase of this.  I brought all the figs home and Mike and I worked on them the next 2 days when we got home from work.  I was so tired, it's a miracle I remembered to take pictures after they were finished!  Cleaning and chopping and covering with sugar one night, and then cooking and canning them the next night.

I put thin slices of lemon in my figs - but I don't think everyone does.  Maybe that's just a southern thing.  I found these cool jars - they're tall and thin - holding 12 ounces each.  OK, I didn't "find" them.  They were the last two boxes of jars on the shelf at the store.  Everybody in Texas must have been putting up figs.  How about these cool labels, huh?  I found them on-line.  You pick the color, shape and text and they show up in the mail.  For a price, of course!

I also got labels for the apple jelly.  If your name is on my Christmas list, you'll be seeing some of this in December!

My husband is a diabetic, so I always make some sugar-free of everything.  Now, I've read in previous years that you can't make sugar-free fig preserves.  You have to boil the figs with real sugar to get the right syrup consistency.  Well, he was not happy about that, so I went on-line to prove it, and there it was!  An article about making sugar free fig preserves!

You have to use sugar-free pectin and Splenda.  And it turned this creepy pink-brown color.  I haven't had the nerve to open a jar and try it yet.  Mike's been on a diet avoiding carbs, so he hasn't tried it yet either..... But I believe Mikey will eat it - some day!

And just as a reminder if you store food in jars that's either been water-bathed or pressure cooked.  Remove the rings from the jars before you put them in the pantry.  If the jar has a proper seal, you will be able to hold the jar up by just the lid.  (see the picture above).  If for some reason, your food spoils, you want the lid to come loose.  Don't ever eat from a jar if the lid does not have a tight seal.  The ring will prevent the lid from coming loose if there's pressure buildup in the jar.