Jams and Jellies

November 18, 2014 12:00 am

On a cold winter morning, nothing is better than a homemade slice of bread and some jam or jelly to brighten your day.  Jams and Jellies can remind you of the delicious fruits you picked last season.  For us hardy New Englanders, anything to remind us of the warmer weather can get us through the harsh winters.  Jams and Jellies can do just that while also bringing a slice of the warmer months right to our kitchen table.

While Pinterest has some wonderful recipes for jams and jellies (see Pinterest recipes for Jams and Jellies) , our goal here today is to encourage the novices to try their hand at this fairly simple procedure that can bring you and your family healthy and yummy food even as the winter bears down on us.

Pick Your Own online has mapped out some simple steps to get you started on making your own jams and jellies.  Let’s take a look at some of their recommendations.

  • Pick your favorite fruit from strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, dewberry, gooseberry, loganberry, marionberry, peach, plum, damson plum, tayberry, youngberry or maybe even mix your favorites for a unique taste all your own!
  • Purchase some jamming necessities, like: ladles, Ball Jars, Pectin, Lids, and a canning pot.  See their complete list of equipment online.
  • Once you have picked, washed and crushed your chosen fruit you will want to get ready for the cooking and canning process.  Depending upon which type of jam you’re making you will need to use a different amount of sugar, jam and pectin. Mix the berries with the pectin and cook to a full boil. It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil.
  • Prepare lids and bottles using the instructions on the jars precisely.
  • When the berry-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar (about 4 cups of sugar per 6 cup batch of berries) and then bring it back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute… most people get rid of foam that occurs and then lets the jam settle and cool for a bit.
  • Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on. Process the jars in the boiling water bath. Once that is done you can remove the jars and let them cool.  Now you have a great snack for this winter!

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