Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I’m Jammin’!!!!

Today, I thought I would spend most of the day outside and finish getting the garden planted. Well, it was not to be,…after spending quite a while trying to figure out why my internet wasn’t working only to find out that most of Windstream in north Georgia was down, I went out side…it started to turn  gray and then thunder! So I picked raspberries as fast as I could!! I picked about 5 cups with  no help from my Lab, Jessie! She was picking and eating them right off the bushes!
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I brought them in as it started to pour. When life gives you raspberries and rain, you make raspberry preserves or jam! It looks like we will have quite a few this year too and I am thankful because they did not get pruned or cared for at all last year! 114_1552
I was very excited to try a recipe for making jam without store bought pectin. I found it in our Georgia Magazine, put out by our local EMC. You can see the article and some other recipes here:

Easy Berry Jam
4 cups berries rinsed (author says to dry but I can’t quite figure out why….)
3 Cups granulated sugar
In a large pot cook berries for 5 minutes. Stir in two cups of sugar and boil for another 7 minutes. Add the last cup of sugar and boil for 10 minutes. Ladle into hot jars and cover with hot seals and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
After two batches of berries I ended up   with 3  and  a 1/2 pints of jam.  114_1554 114_1556
This was the easiest recipe that I have ever used for jams and it has “set” nicely  and tastes yummy! You can see that one jar is no longer full… I will probably never buy packaged pectin again! A few weeks ago, I made strawberry jam with purchased pectin.
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When my strawberries come in again later in the season, I’m going to try this with them. I also have some thornless blackberries that are coming on!
Have you ever made jam this way? Have you had success doubling the ingredients and made it in one batch?
Hoping for an outside day tomorrow!
I'm visiting and meeting new friends at these fun parities:
Blessed with Grace




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14 comments:

  1. I don't do canning, cuz it requires you to pick things from gardens, and there are bugs in gardens, but MAN OH MAN does that look GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! yummo!!!!! Hope it tastes as great as it looks ;)

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  2. What a yummy post.
    We won't have fruit ready for several months, but I'll come back here.

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  3. Sharon those raspberries are gorgeous!
    oxoxox
    Denalee

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  4. Looks so yummy!! I haven't canned for years and years. And I always used pectin...didn't know any other way.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. Looks delish! I love to can things, it's been awhile since I've made jam though. I can just imagine how it taste right now.

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  6. I'm with Nikki but I do plan on eating some of yours when I come up :o) Oh and I LOVE that Jessie picks and eats the raspberries !! SHe is such a neat girl!!

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  7. I want to learn to can...I've got books and been reading a lot, but I haven't quite done it yet. (Could be reading about the lady who almost killed her entire family last summer after eating botulism tainted home-canned beans...) Your jam looks wonderful.

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  8. mom that looks absolutely amazing!! Any chance a jar could find it's way into my hands?:) Love you!

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  9. Ok Sharon... the raspberries look really good and your jam looks de-lish!! All we have are wild blackberries around our house... makes a good cobbler though!! Thanks for your sweet comment Sharon and for the invite... will do!!

    Kendra

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  10. Oh, my! This looks delish! I love homemade jam and love that it is without pectin! :D

    Thanks for sharing!
    Sherry

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  11. Thanks for sharing this! My husband and I started canning last year and are always looking for beginner-friendly recipes. This looks like a winner!

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  12. How lucky to have all those raspberries to pick! I bet its delicious!

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  13. I don't have canning stuff, can it be done another way? Would love to try this.

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  14. Sounds easy enough...I use a similar method my mother-in-law taught me except we had the juice of one lemon.

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