To achieve this plum jam nirvana, start with good fruit. It doesn’t have to be precious stuff — save that for eating fresh — but find fragrant plums and pluots. That’s obvious. This next trick, less ...

QUINCY — The beach plums started forming early last spring on the flowering white bushes at Nut Island State Park in Houghs Neck, hopeful signs of a good crop to come in September. And now, as fall ...

For the past five years, I’ve spent my late-summer birthday making plum jam. Parties are fun. Cake is good. But all I want is the quiet pleasure of standing over the stove, stirring and staring as the ...