Our day was supposed to be spent with friends, but when Fannie woke saying she didn't feel great and Sunny is now heading to the cabin this weekend with Nana and Papa, I figured a trip to the orchard for berry picking would suit us all well. And it did.
Mr. Sun managed to stay tucked behind the clouds for most of our tasting picking time, and we found a way to keep Fannie from eating the berries out of our baskets as quickly as we tossed them in: let her be in charge of the wagon and gave her my water bottle and reminded her of how we pick berries at home to eat, and she was off.
Over twenty pounds of strawberries later, they caught a ride on the cows before heading across the street for some lunch. I did recall on the way home, that buying this amount of berries at once means I I need a plan for using/preserving them fairly quickly, and I hadn't spent an ounce of time in that direction, SO my afternoon was spent making jam ( because I have so much time on my hands!). Twelve jars of jam later, and we couldn't resist busting one open during dinner to taste the fresh soft texture of those ripe berries!
Some of you emailed with questions about my recipe. Having typically made freezer jam in the past with grapes from our grapevine, I used the Pomona's Pectin recipe versus just boiling down the berries with a ton of sugar....not that I don't L.O.V.E. the taste of jam made with a ton of sugar, BUT, with the way we go through it, it's nice to have a no sugar style on hand!
I followed the Pomona's Pectin recipe for All Fruit Cooked Jam until the part about apple cider or juice concentrate. I used lemonade, because I had it on hand and it's typically my thing to start a recipe before checking to make sure I have all the ingredients. I didn't use any sugar at all and the result was a very mild jam that will be great for stirring into yogurt, pouring over ice cream, dipping waffles into, and for dabbing up with some angel food or pound cake. We all loved it.
Then, my aunt called and said she's got some currant bushes ready for picking in the next couple weeks, so we'll steer into uncharted, but yummy territory. We'll keep you posted.
All Fruit Cooked Jam
3 c mashed fruit
3 t. pectin
4 t. calcium water
1 c lemonade
mash all fruit in large bowl, stir in pectin and calcium water. Heat lemonade over stovetop in sauce pan seperate of fruit. Heat fruit over stovetop until it boils, then remove from heat, pour lemonade into it, stirring consistently to make sure the powders dissolve. Once that is all mixed together, I pour into jars ready for canning, toss into boiling water for 5 minutes and wa-laa!
If you've got a great jam recipe, I'd love to give it a try ( especially for currants!).
Yummy I have to try this one! Thank you!
Posted by: Laurie | June 17, 2010 at 06:54 AM
cute little girl!hardwaorking baby. ..strawberry jum so yumm
Posted by: Medical Advice | June 22, 2010 at 11:25 AM