After you've got your plums prepped, diced (whirled in the food processor which makes it kind of runny) and measured, dump the rest of the ingredients in a heavy bottom stock pot. Using a thick bottomed (yes, that phrase made me giggle, too) keeps your sauce from scorching. Put all the rest of the ingredients, minus the plums, in and bring to a boil. Stir often, sugar scorches easily.

Add your plums and return to a simmer. Let simmer for 1 hour and about 40 minutes, stirring every now and then, until sauce has reduced and thickened up some. You can see the line in the above photo of when I started the plum sauce and when it was done reducing at the end of the time.

Ladle your sauce into clean Mason jars to a 1/2 inch headspace. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.