Jammin'

We're definitely a jam-eating family.  My kids will eat it on just about anything - toast biscuits, yogurt, oatmeal, PBJ's...you get the idea.  And they love homemade.  Last week HEB had a $2 off coupon for Ball canning jars, pint size, but they were out by the time I noticed.  ):  That's ok; I save the jars my mother sends home with me - she's a big jam and jelly maker.  Today I  took advantage of $1.67 strawberries and half a bag of blueberries I had in the freezer. 

I pulled out my odd assortment of jelly jars and set to work.  I start off by boiling a big pot of water with the lids in for 5 minutes, then dump the water into my clean jars while I use the pot to make the jam.  I mash up the fruit and pectin while I'm waiting for it to come to a boil.

I dump in the sugar and let it come to a boil then continue boiling and stirring for 1 minute - I just basically follow the directions on the pectin box to get the right sugar to fruit  ratio - very important if you want your jam to set.

It smells great and is so pretty and purple-y.

I use the inversion method to seal - I quickly pour the hot jam into the hot drained jars, clean the threads, put the caps on, screw lids tight, then turn upside down for 5 minutes while I clean up.  Then I set them right side up and listen for the POP!  While I've been typing this, two have popped.

  If the others don't, I will simply store them in the fridge - they won't live there long, believe me!