BLUEBERRY JAM

Usually I just follow the instructions on the folder inside the pectin box for making jam, but thought I might Google something and see if anything jumps out at me.  Here's a link to a nice recipe and article on Blueberry Jam and the whole process explained as I might tell you myself, if you were in my kitchen.  This would probably make ol' Dillweed foam at the mouth but I have made jam like this forever, in fact, in my early days I used the Open Kettle style, where after you screwed the lids down tight, you turned over the jars for 5 minutes  and righted them, and waited for the POP.  Which they always did and lasted for years.

http://www.pickyourown.org/blueberryjam.htm


I forgot to add the link in my original post and included it in my last posting on this thread. Sorry everyone.  

If you think he'd blow a gasket at your method, I'd hate to hear how I "should be" dead because mom and I often topped cooled jams and jellies with a 1/2" of melted paraffin and set them on the pantry shelf for the winter.......hahahahahahaha! And, no, I certainly am NOT dead.

   Dillweed.    

It takes so little to amuse you......

bethk wrote:If you think he'd blow a gasket at your method, I'd hate to hear how I "should be" dead because mom and I often topped cooled jams and jellies with a 1/2" of melted paraffin and set them on the pantry shelf for the winter.......hahahahahahaha!  And, no, I certainly am NOT dead.

My mom and grandma made grape butter every fall from the 100+ year old Concord grape arbor at my other grandma's house. It's still growing like crazy and the new owners said we could come and harvest them any time, if we wanted. They used baby food jars, poured on the paraffin and we'd eat it all year and lived to tell it. Nothing was ever done to those vines except pruning every few years, so they were really organic. Oh and here's the link since I didn't seem to include it in my original post.

http://www.pickyourown.org/blueberryjam.htm

Yup - that's the way we did it too.

But now days I just make one or two jar amounts because Dane doesn't eat any. A lot of times I'll make a mixed fruit jam out of some strawberries, blueberries and/or raspberries or blackberries...what ever I happen to have purchased too much of. Or I'll just make a fruit sauce to store in the freezer for a cake or dessert drizzle.

And I guess that idea pushed me to cook down the three containers of raspberries that are not being eaten so I can have a raspberry sauce. I have an angel food cake in the freezer so when the raspberry syrup (I've already cooked and strained the seeds out) is thick I will allow it to cool and then put it into a zip bag to freeze flat and the wrap with the cake. When we have the cake the sauce will thaw in minutes and a quick cut of the corner will let me drizzle it on the plate or on top of the cake slices. Better than letting the fruit mold and tossing it.

I like to do similar with fresh peaches, although they really need a bit of fruit fresh added so they don't darken in the freezing/thawing process.

I put raspberry sauce on pork & chicken breast.. 

this post reminds me that I still have homemade plum sauce  

Barbara101 wrote:I put raspberry sauce on pork & chicken breast.. 

I like that, too, but Dane's not a fan....he's just grumpy when I add it, yet if he gets it in a restaurant, well, then it's genius.

bethk wrote:It takes so little to amuse you......

Me, too, as I laughed like an 8-year-old girl when I read "Dillweed."

Well, I have 6 pints of beautiful blueberry jam setting on my counter and a custard cup full for the table. I used 7 cups of crushed fresh blueberries, 7 cups of sugar, 1 pkg. dry pectin plus 2 Tbsp., the juice and zest of a lemon and 1 tsp. butter. The butter keeps foam from forming on the top of the jam. It hardly took any time at all to make and I'm looking forward to making Barb's yogurt and putting a tablespoon full in my serving. I'm hoping I can still get some decent peaches yet and maybe some pears. Larry said that local news reported that the apples are ripening 2-3 weeks early because of all the rain we had early in the season and they are supposed to be larger and juicier as well. He said the apples are beginning to drop, maybe they'll be a better price this year because I want to make loads of apple sauce.

I use to can and freeze applesauce every year...when you have a nice row if apple trees you get to use them for lots of things. I would make about six pies (unbaked) and stashed them in the freezer. Then the peeler/corer got put to work and I'd slice up a bushel or so, rinse in 7-up or Sprite so they didn't brown and freeze them on sheet pans for ultimate storage in plastic bags in the freezer. Apple Brown Betty comes to mind....middle of a snow storm, fresh apples baking in the oven....YUM!

I sure miss those trees.

In WNC the folks who own apple orchards beg you come & take all you want.When I lived there, people // friends from here ,would drive up & fill their trunks with free apples.It is a huge apple growing area.

bethk wrote:I use to can and freeze applesauce every year...when you have a nice row if apple trees you get to use them for lots of things.  I would make about six pies (unbaked) and stashed them in the freezer.  Then the peeler/corer got put to work and I'd slice up a bushel or so, rinse in 7-up or Sprite so they didn't brown and freeze them on sheet pans for ultimate storage in plastic bags in the freezer.  Apple Brown Betty comes to mind....middle of a snow storm, fresh apples baking in the oven....YUM!

I sure miss those trees.

After apple pie, I enjoy making an apple crisp with brown sugar, butter, flour, oats and cinnamon. That topping is also good on peaches, blueberries or cherries -- we like a combo of peaches/blueberries.

I made one of Ina's fruit crumble recipes one time...but this would work with just about any topping you normally make.

I ended up with way too much topping ans decided to stick the excess in the freezer. It was wonderful to just pull it out and use to top a small dish of fruit to bake off. It was an all-purpose mix of flour, sugar, oats, butter....I added nuts if I wanted, depending upon the fruit.

well I have decided to buy a apple peeler with a corer attached.PIA to sit & peel apples & I have bought 5 or more those corers just to break & crack.I bought a OXO last time supposed to last forever.ha broke right in half.Hard granny smiths ..Softer apple they work for a while longer.

I saw one on QVC a long time ago,might need to check it out.

Barb, this is the one they sent me one time to test...worked great. Only thing is I thought it took off a lot of peel, but I ended up making apple jelly out of it so I didn't mind.

I liked that the suction thingy was really secure. I ended up giving it to DD in Indy and she uses it every fall.

http://www.cooking.com/apple-corer-and-peeler-with-suction-base-by-back-to-basics_129548_11/

yes that kind. My Mom bought one when we lived in WNC it clamped to the table or counter. That thing was $$$$ too. I have no idea what she did with it.It just disappeared at some point.She also had a clamp on food grinder that also went.I could be using them both now lol