Sunday, 30 July 2017

Jammin' Again

Big juicy blueberries were on sale at the grocery store yesterday so I just had to buy some, and jam fever took over. Add some sugar, juice of a lemon and some pectin and I was jammin'. Yes, I admit it.... I am a serial jammer, I just can't help myself.

First clean the blueberries of stalks and leaves, and smoosh them to a pulp. I suppose you could put them in a blender for some super-smooshing like the commercial jam factories do, but I've never done that as I prefer some whole fruit in the jam. Lets be real!

Squeeze the lemon juice in (a real lemon is best, not that stuff in a bottle!) and add the pectin and bring to the boil, making sure you squish any large fruit against the side of the cooking pot. And then gently mix in the sugar..... a cup of sugar for every cup of fruit, and stir constantly for at least a couple of minutes with a wooden spoon when it comes to a hard boil that you can't stir down.

Take the pan off the heat, stir for 5 or 6 minutes to cool the jam (listen to music and stir in time to the beat to pass the time) and make sure the fruit doesn't all float to the top, then pour into hot jars and seal. The seals will POP as the jam cools. These 7 jars cost me approximately $18 for ingredients, not counting the cost of the electricity, so about $2.57 each, half the price of store jam, and 10 times better!

My runner beans have started to produce, and I picked the first beans yesterday. So exciting! I've never grown runners before. Lots of little baby beans are ready to grow so I'll have to water the plants faithfully every evening during this sunny weather, just to make sure!
Krisk Bean Slicer - Made in Australia
Come on bees.... come buzzing by and make me some more beans. I love these beans, they remind me of Sunday dinners as a child in England. And the humming birds love the red flowers too.

This is my magical bean slicer... the Krisk Bean Slicer - Made in Australia! It top'n'tails the beans with a sharp blade, then will slice the bean and take off the strings all in one easy action. Fabulous! Every kitchen needs one.

16 comments:

  1. It will soon be preserving season for me too. Love this time of year!

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  2. I love blueberries especially muffins, scones and jam. I have them in my porridge too. Enjoy your blueberries! :)

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  3. Yum. I too prefer whole fruit in my jam - and homemade is sooooooo much better. Like chutneys and relishes.

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  4. That photograph of the jam jars make me want to spread some on hot, buttered toast.

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  5. I love blueberries and try to eat a few each day. I bet that jam tastes good!

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  6. Looks delicious! but I did I'm afraid I did it the easy way (and almost certainly less delicious) today and bought a bottle at the grocery store. :-)

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  7. You do make it look so easy and it sounds delicious. Yum, homemade anything!

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  8. Oh how this reminds me of the wild blueberries we used to contest the black bears for in Northern Minnesota. And how poorly the supersized tasteless ones now available in our local supper markets compare to the real thing.....

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  9. How much would you need to sell and ship one to Minnesota?

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  10. I love blueberries, especially eaten simply with double (heavy) cream.
    Those runner beans look good.

    All the best Jan

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  11. Your blueberries do look good. I made some blueberry jam last year. I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to give it a different twist. Not making jams this year because of my knee surgery but I have so much from past years. I like to pop fresh blueberries into sourdough pancakes when I cook them, that is good too.

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  12. I quite like squishing fruit to make jam too Shammi, it's very satisfying and much tastier than bought.. so easy to do too! Your blueberry jam looks delish, pass the baguette merci beaucoup 😀

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  13. Oh yum!
    I had a bowl of blue berries, black berries, and grapes for lunch. They were all so good. $2.57 cents a jar is a total bargain. You will enjoying what you canned for months to come!

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  14. there is absolutely nothing like home made and home grown anything. You make me so hungry just looking at them.
    Love that bean slicer too. very convenient.

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  15. That looks really nice indeed, thanks for sharing. Warm greetings to you.

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  16. Lovely pieces of art. I like that first one!

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