Project 159: watermelon piece jam

I have never attempted this, but can remember it from my childhood.  I can not recall that my mother ever made it, but we seemed to get it from somewhere!

Very sweet, but with boys loving sweet, I decided to attempt it after buying a quarter of a very good watermelon the other day.......You know, it is actually easier buying the quarters I decided, as I never know what to do with the three quarters after cutting a big watermelon.  It just fills your whole fridge!  And I must admit, it is easier to cook a quarter of a watermelons peels, than a whole one!

Peel your watermelon and save the peels.  Now first enjoy the watermelon....chilled...

After eating the watermelon remove the green of the peels thinly.  It does not matter if the green still comes through at some places.  Cut the peels in chunks and prick them all over with a fork.  Doing this ensures that the lime and the syrup later on can drench the pieces.  I left a small layer of the pink on the peels, but if your watermelon is not fresh fresh, remove all the pink.

Mix 25 ml of slaked lime with 5 litres of cold water and soak your pieces overnight in the mixture.

The following day rinse the watermelon pieces under running water and leave it in clear water for 2 hours.  Rinse well.  Weigh your pieces.

Bring a pot of  water with a little salt to the boil with 3-4 copper coins added.  Wash your coins well before adding it to the water.  The coins help to clear the fruit.

Cook the fruit until soft and you can stick a match easily into it.

In the meanwhile bring your syrup to the boil....1.5 kg sugar per kg of fruit with 2.5l of water and a hand full of fresh ginger slices.  You can add the ginger in a muslin bag, but I like crystallised ginger, so I just added it straight to the syrup and bottled it with the fruit.  Boil your syrup for 5 minutes, then keep aside.

When your fruit is just soft(it must be firm pieces and not mushy soft), drain the boiling water and add half the syrup and cook fast until the pieces become clear and you can see through them.  When the syrup starts to get low, add the rest and boil until you reach the softball stadium then place the lid on top of your pot and cook fast for about 3 minutes.  Bottle warm and seal immediately.