Jam
Posted By Elaine on July 1, 2009
Big bowl full
I kind of did things different today. I made jam with the blackberries I already had and then went out to pick more. This is a bowl full of the ones I picked this afternoon.
bushes
We have so many bushes. I geared up this afternoon and went into the brambles. My kids are so normal. Samuel won’t help with the blackberries other than to bring me the camera or water. Jacob wants to help but with all the thorns his spirit is squashed quickly. Jacob was complaining about all the thorns and “Why do we have all these thorns?!” I take my opportunities as they come…. God cursed the ground after Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That is why we have thorns but in his mercy we still have the goodness and sweetness of the berries. Well, that message fell flat so I was left alone in the berry patch. At least Jacob doesn’t roll his eyes yet.
canning
I made my first attempt at jam this morning. I thought I knew what I was doing. I added the berries and then the sugar, then I put it on the stove. Yes, for those of you who have made jam before, I know I did it backwards. I was supposed to heat the berries, add pectin and then add the sugar. Well, I didn’t read the directions until it was too late so I added the pectin at the last minute and brought it up to a boil for at least 10 mins. Jarred and then did a hot water bath not knowing if it would set or not. I skimmed the foam prior to canning and put the jam that settled in the bottom of the bowl in the fridge to let it set.
out of the bath
Well, I called my best friend because my Mom is in Alaska and I knew that Mollie had made jam before. I was hoping she would give me a quick fix to the jam I just made. She is like McGyver in the kitchen. She can take a piece of string, and an apple and a cup of sugar and make an apple pie. Probably the best apple pie you would ever eat, too. I got the machine…ugh. What do I do now? Well I did the only thing I could do at the moment. I jarred them and sealed them… hoping against hope that I had not ruined the batch.
biscuits and jam....yum!
The jam was runny in the jar and the bowl never set so I was sure I had ruined it. When I did hear from her….she told me to Google it. I was out running an errand so when I got home I was sure the jam was toast until I looked and tilted. Could it be? It set up! Yea, I made jam! We had biscuits and jam with dinner and both my kids ate it! Truly remarkable considering all the seeds and chunks of fruit that you could see. All in all today was a success in the jam department.
Y’all come back now!
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Elaine you are amazing! and just think if it hadn’t set up you would have had ice cream syrup! Now how bad would that be?? Save some of that goodness for us, at least a taste!
In your next batch you might want to cut the sugar by at least a third. I always tried to half it if I could but it did not always work…depends on how ripe the berries are. If you run out of blackberries and the blueberries start to come in, I mixed some one year and it was fabulous.
We are having a blast. I have my phone so you can always call. We are only 3 hours behind you. Love ya, MOM
Yes, Tracy. There is tons I can’t do. I am excited when I do something for the first time, albeit all wrong, and it still worked out. I am shocked and grateful it did. Quinn actually told me the jam was too sweet. yikes! Can you imagine him saying anything is too sweet? Thanks for reading.
Is there NOTHING you can’t do? (Good job!)