Spiced Figs in Syrup

The fig trees have been ripe a couple of weeks now and I've been busy preserving, preserving, preserving. There's a tree on the property of the condos we live in and there's also one at Ross' Nana's house. This has put me in good supply of figs, though I'm not convinced one can ever truly have enough of these little gems of yum. Ross' family prefers a Southern fig preserve with strawberry Jell-O, so I made around 3 cases total for him and them (last year I didn't make enough for him at half a case and it was gone in a month or two so I promised not to make this mistake again). I've also made some jars of the regular fig preserve I like (figs, sugar and lemon juice only). But in the middle of all that we started what I refer to as "monsoon season" in Houston, which is NOT good for figs. I ran over to the on property tree and saw that what I thought would happen did happen. Figs were overripening faster than I could get them, even with the Piggy and I taking daily hauls, and the figs that weren't did have some rain splitting. Birds and butterflies are really happy and having a good time but I was sad. I got the last of what was usable off the tree (though there are still many unripe figs left - I will never understand how I and wildlife are the only ones using this tree for food) and it only amounted to about four cups. I've been wanting to make some whole preserved figs so this seemed like a good time to do it since I knew I was only going to get around 3-4 half-pints of whatever I made and I prefer to do a small test batch of things I've never done before to avoid the possibility of having a lot of waste if we don't like them. Kumquats have been showing up in the markets as well, so although it's more traditional to do this with lemon I thought I'd try it with kumquats instead. Hope you enjoy!

4 cups whole figs, stems removed
1 cup kumquats, whole
3 slices crystallized ginger
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan and stick in the fridge until the next day. Bring to a strong simmer, reduce the heat and let simmer until the figs and kumquats are starting to be transparent. The syrup should be slightly thickened. Drain and reserve the syrup. Fill jars (should be around 4 half-pint jars) and then add syrup to jars. Can in a waterbath for 10 minutes at sea level.

Note: you could add, while simmering, a vanilla bean, a clove, a stick of cinnamon, and/or a few allspice berries as well if you like. Just make sure to remove them before canning since these spices will overpower the figs otherwise.