7 years ago, our family of 7 moved to a small home on the prairie. Our goals were lofty - to live frugally, become more self reliant, grow as much of our food as we could (sourcing the rest locally), and in general, learn to live in a more sustainable way. In an exciting twist of life events, we recently moved "home" to the coast and are adapting our lives and goals to a completely different climate and landscape. Join us as we continue on our journey!
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Jam Fest
By now, you must all think I'm crazy for making so much jam! We use a lot of it on toast, but more importantly, we flavour our homemade yogurt with it each week. We use on average, 2 jars of jam each week, meaning that we need at least 100 jars of it for our own personal use. Additionally, I give some away as thank you gifts through the year and my intention is to put together gift baskets full of homemade jams and soaps to give as Christmas gifts. That's a lot of jam, folks!
I bought peaches on Friday at 76 cents/pound (that's very inexpensive for here!), so those went into a delicious jam flavoured with cloves and a little bit of that blackberry liqueur. Tasty!
As well, I dealt with that strawberry syrup that I wasn't happy with. I had popped it into the fridge the other day (instead of water bath processing it) because it just wasn't the right texture for syrup. I had a few cups of leftover raspberries that I added to it which gave it a nice tang, and with a little pectin and a bit more sugar added, it set up into a delicious jam that tastes much better than the original syrup did. Whew! A relief to get that used up and not waste it.
So that was Monday - spent largely in the kitchen, washing, prepping, skinning, cutting, stirring, sterilizing, water bathing and testing. A long day, but well worth the effort :) So satisfying to see the pantry fill up!
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I think jam is the best thing of all to can! And a gift of jam would be the best too! (And it is expensive to buy). love,andrea
ReplyDeleteI'm the only one who uses jam around here, and I have no idea how fast I use it. I should try to keep track. There's several items I should do this for: canned tomatoes, jam, and peanut butter. Can peanut butter be canned?
ReplyDeleteYou are one hard worker! I know you have helpers around, but, still, I'm impressed.
I love jam...especially peach...and especially homemade.....I'm coming over.....hehhe
ReplyDeletehello
ReplyDeletehow wonderful.........so many jams.we need also many jams.it's really a wonderful gift.
love regina