New Dog. Old Tricks.

I learned a new skill this summer.  Well, new to me.  Women have been performing this feat for generations and I finally finally joined them.

While in Colorado this summer my mom and I intended to empty her freezer of the bags of gooseberries she has been saving to make into jam.  However, neither of us knew how.  And we were both two emotionally spent to figure out how to learn.

When I came home I begged my friend, canning pro Lisa, to teach me to make jam.  It took me a solid month to pick berries AND show up at her house the same day but I made it just before the last of the berries disappeared.  It was a snap.  And fun.  And I went home with 6 piddly jars.  My kids have been begging for blueberry jam but I couldn’t handle opening what I had just barely sealed.  Mean huh?

My mom came to visit so I sent my husband off for a bag of peaches and I pretended like I remembered what Lisa taught me.  And viola!  6 piddly jars of peach jam.  This time I was smart though.  I kept out half a jar unsealed.  Sort of smart.  It was gone in 3 days. 

I sent my mom home to can those gooseberries and I sent my husband back for more peaches.  This time I managed on my own with a houseful of kids and only an hour to spare.  Turns out making jam is one of those things I should have been stuffing into my life all along.  This last time I was REALLY smart.  I managed to eek out 8 jars plus a BIG jar for the fridge.  My husband wants to know when I’m taking all 14 jars off the counter AND how long they last.  Can’t say on either account.

Another option sometime I’d love to try – a LOW low sugar, no pectin version of blueberry jam from Orange Flower.