It's that magical time of year - free blackberry season. It hasn't been a very hot summer so they are a week or two later than normal but they are reading for picking right now. In past years I have frozen blackberries in anticipation of making jam with Mom or a friend. This year I decided instead of freezing them I would try and make jam totally on my own. Some types of jam take a ton of processing, like last year when I made pear butter with Mom. Pears need to be cored/cut/wrung out but berries are SOOOO much easier and even if you have to buy them, if you haven't tried making jam before I suggest starting with a berry jam. All you need is berries, sugar, lemon juice and certo (certo is a type of pectin - this is the certo recipe).
The jars had been sterilized in the dishwasher and the rings and seals had been boiled for sterilization as well (super important). It took about an hour to do and I am extremely happy with the finished product. It tastes fabulous, really like a bite of summer. This combo with raspberries makes it extra tasty, so much so that even if I have to buy raspberries next summer I will in order to make another batch. Two of my jars didn't seal properly though, those will be put in the fridge and eaten in the next couple of weeks. That was due to inexperience, I didn't fill those two jars high enough. You need to leave a little room at the top but not too much. Anyway, I am super proud of myself.
A few weeks ago we also mastered homemade perogies. Hubby is Ukrainian and grew up in a traditional family so his Mother never taught him how to make them because he was a boy. Before she went into a dementia facility she gave us her old Ukrainian cookbooks. He has tried making them a couple of times before but they never turned out quite right - size/texture-wise. The taste was always good though. This time I helped on the forming part at the end - plus we used the pasta machine to roll out the dough. That did the trick - they were perfect. One of the traditional Ukrainian dishes on meatless Christmas Eve is perogies and this year we will make them ahead to eat that night.
Yes, it is never too late to learn those adulting skills. I still need to master pie crust making and I have been craving a blackberry-apple pie so tonight I shall go pick some more blackberries. Wish me luck on my next crust - it's only been 7 years since I last made one!
Great Job! My grandparents and mom made jam all the time in the past. Mom doesn't make jam anymore. I remember they never used pectin. They collected the foam as it was boiling and did not boil the jam very much. They used to tie a cheesecloth type of thing over the jar and let the sun make the rest of the jam. They never canned the jam either. They would keep them in large jars in a cool space. I think they used quiet a bit of sugar like 1 kg of berries and 1 kg of sugar.
ReplyDeleteYes, so much sugar but it doesn't turn out if you don't use enough. I've never heard of that method but there are many. My Mom used to melt wax and use that to seal the jam - but modern seals are so much better she hasn't done that for several years.
DeleteWhen I lived in Seattle I harvested a ton of free blackberries, both for the freezer and for jam. And I never used pectin, either -- just followed the instructions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation:
Deletehttps://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_07/jam_without_pectin.html
That home page has a ton of great information for canning, drying, freezing, smoking and otherwise hanging on to your food.
Good for you! I have a no fail pastry recipe if you would like it-uses a little vinegar and an egg and is super light and tasty. Regarding the blackberries do they make the jam seedy? I like homemade jam but have to psyche myself up to make it, not keen on the heat in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI didn't remove any of the seeds but you can, I don't find it too seeday at all. It literally only took heating to boil then adding the pectin and 5 more mins on the stove while stirring the pectin to make sure the fruit didn't just rise to the top. I made it when it was 22 outside though. Today is 28, wouldn't have been so great. I would love your recipe although I may have to wait until Sunday or Monday to see if we get a cooler day for pie :)
DeleteFor many years when my kids were young I made jams and jellies. But none of eats enough of it to make it worthwhile so I gave it up. What I would like to make are dill pickles, those I'd eat!
ReplyDeleteGood work on the blackberry/raspberry, it does sound delicious. As does the pie. Let us know how you make out with your pie crust. I've never mastered that either, I usually add too much water or overwork the dough.
I think I will try pickles next year, our farm market sells large bags of pickling cukes and fresh dill which is easy for me (then I can use my own cukes and dill for eating every day). I am waiting for a cooler day to make pie, maybe this weekend!
DeleteI wish I could taste your jam. I am not a huge jam/jelly fan but I love conserves and mixed fruit jams.
ReplyDeleteThese are super tart - which I love. I think it would be fantastic on a piece of turkey, almost like cranberry sauce
DeleteYou jam looks perfect. Despite reprocessing mine again the next morning, it is still runny. I call it blackberry and red currant pancake syrup. Still very tasty. Maybe using my frozen red currants (seeded in my food mill) made it thinner than the way you did it just cooking down whole berries. - Margy
ReplyDeleteHm, I wonder if your pectin was old. Mom realized the other day she had pectin from 2009 lol, I thought we had cleared out her cupboards of old stuff but apparently not
DeleteI would so love to have berries like you do up north!! We get a handful in the spring. I need to plant some bushes!
ReplyDeleteGood job on your preserves!
We do have a lot of berries. Raspberries grow well here but I don't have the room for them. Huckleberries can be found on the mountains if you know where to look but blackberries, they grow absolutely everywhere as they are an invasive plant
DeleteMaking jam, canning tomatoes and all that kind of good old fashioned preserving of foods, (other than freezing), is a skill I never learned. My mom never did it as she had 5 kids and food disappeared way too fast. lol. I have tried making cold mustard pickles which are really good, but other than that I get intimidated by the whole sterilization of jars part, the sealing and all that. Congratulations on tackling it. I'm sure your jam is just wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteIt does help having someone else show you the first time but it really isn't that hard. The new seals are quite easy to use. Mom told me the jars maybe were not warm enough - everything needs to be warm and then the seals seem to do their magic if you fill then up enough (to the shoulder) which I did on most of the jars. The small jars seem to work better, I had a few different sizes.
DeleteThe raspberry/blackberry combo sounds fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI have to say it is the best jam I've ever tasted :)
DeleteWell done, congrats!
ReplyDeleteThat recipe is great timing on your part as my blackberry bush is going nuts. However, the central core of the blackberries is really large and really solid - I have never had blackberries like that - so I think I might just boil them with sugar and then strain. I'm sure I'll find a use for the coulis. And my mirabel plum tree is also heaving so I'm trying to dodge the wasps and collect them too. It's non-stop once all the berries come in isn't it (I also have a damson tree/bush to clear too). Still, homemade is great isn't it.
ReplyDeleteI loooooooove blackberry/raspberry jam. So what does The Mama make and give to us in large quantities?
ReplyDeleteStrawberry.
Ah well. Husband likes it! (Thanks for stopping by on my blog, by the way.)
I love the sharpness of blackberries! Our garden is usually full of them, I haven't had a chance to forage yet. xxx
ReplyDeleteI LOVE blackberry and wish I could find some free to pick. Making pie crust is a lot like golf. The more you do it, the better you get... but there is no guarantee that you will consistently do well. Just because one crust turns out great doesn't mean the next will be a winner. I do suggest you use lard. It makes a better crust!
ReplyDeletelooks great, but you are NOT supposed to boil the lids
ReplyDelete