Our first guest blog ever on The Joy Kitchen is by Marisa McClellan, who blogs at www.foodinjars.com and who recently published a book by the same name. After following her blog for quite some time, then purchasing and using her book, I can safely say that Marisa's enthusiasm for and skill with all things canned and preserved is downright inspirational. The recipe below for tomato jam is no exception.

In the springtime, I approach food preservation with great care. I fuss over my jams, giving plenty of thought to size of my fruit dice and the length of time I allow for maceration. My pickles are packed into jars with great precision and accuracy. That time of year, I’m delighted to be anticipating the coming abundance.

Come August, my elevated aspirations are gone. I can to get it done, to get those bits of summer into their respective jars before the season is gone and I’m left with the potatoes, storage squash and kale of winter. And so my many acts of preservation become a bit frenzied and as easy as I can make them.

Because tomatoes only appear in volumes appropriate for preserving towards the end of summer, I always feel slightly fevered when prepping them for canning. The bulk of the tomatoes I do are simply peeled and packed into jars whole. I always save a few out for slow roasting and I try to make at least two batches of tomato jam every season.

Of all the things I make each year, the one I’d miss the most is that tomato jam. It’s not a recipe I invented. I didn’t find it sifting through one of my many preserving books. This version of tomato jam came into my life through my friend Amy. She’s an avid preserver and is one of the best home cooks I know. One year, she gave me a half pint of this jam and a week later, after I’d scraped every last drop from the jar, I went back to her to beg for the recipe. Thankfully, she was willing to share.

What makes this jam so terrific is that it tastes like high-class ketchup. The flavor profile is familiar, but better than any squirt bottle of Heinz I’ve ever encountered. I slather it on turkey burgers and dip wedges of oven-roasted sweet potatoes into it. You can serve it with a cheese platter, or just plop a jar on the picnic table to go with hot dogs. It’s versatile and delicious. In my book, you can’t ask much more of a preserve than that.