Tasty Tuesday: Triple Berry Jam

My mom and I took the 4 kids strawberry picking the beginning of June. (One day I'll go through all those pictures and write up a post. One day, hopefully before my kids are teenagers.) We ate quite a few fresh strawberries, froze a bunch, and then made jam with the rest.

We made cherry-strawberry jam last year for my first attempt at jam making and canning. I have since canned a few other things, but hadn't made anymore jam. Last time, I was a little nervous that something would go wrong, but this time since I'd done it before, I was confident. Right?

Nope. There was still that little bit of anxiousness that my jam wouldn't be thick enough or that the jars wouldn't seal properly. I know, such confidence. 

But enough about that, let's make some triple berry jam!

Enlist the help of a big, strong helper. The cuter, the better.

 Mix berries and pectin (with portion of sugar) in a large pot.

Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the remaining sugar and stir; bring back to a boil.

Skim off the excess foam and pour the hot jam into prepared jars.

But beware . . .

If you try to fill the jars and take pictures at the same time, you might end up with jam on your counter. 

And then you'd have to scoop it up with your finger and taste the jam. But if you're like me, this wouldn't be the first taste of the delicious concoction anyway.

 Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Remove them, leave them on the counter until cool, and listen to the melodious pop-pop-pop of the cans sealing.

And that's that! I don't know why it's intimidating to me. It's not even difficult. We made a batch right after picking the strawberries and we're down to our last jar. This jam is absolutely delicious! Possibly the best jam I've ever eaten. We just made a second batch again because it's that good. This time, I used 12 oz raspberries, 16 oz blueberries, and just mashed enough of our frozen strawberries to equal a total of 6 cups of berries. So good. You just can't go wrong here. I have a feeling we'll be making a lot more homemade jams.

Triple Berry Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups crushed strawberries (about 8 cups whole)

1 cup crushed raspberries

1 cup crushed blueberries

4 cups sugar, divided

1 (1.75 oz) package no-sugar-needed fruit pectin

Directions:

1. In a large pot, combine the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin (to avoid clumping) and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil (that can't be stirred away) on medium-high heat, stirring often. 

2. Add the remaining sugar to the mixture; return to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

3. Remove from heat; skim off foam. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Remove from bath and leave on counter, without touching, until cool.

Recipe adapted from pickyourown.

Tasty Tuesday: Cherry-Strawberry Jam

This was my first time making jam. Can you believe it? It was even my first time canning. *Gasp* Crazy, I know. They're both things I've always wanted to do, but just never got around to doing.  Until now.

We still had about 3 cups of cherries left after making the cobbler. I had planned to make a pie, but decided on this recipe instead.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups finely chopped or ground sour cherries

2 cups red strawberries

5 cups sugar

1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin

Directions:

1. In a large kettle, combine cherries and strawberries; stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. 

2. Add sugar; return to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

3. Remove from the heat; skim off foam. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

I don't own a cherry pitter. I meant to borrow my mom's since it makes the whole pitting cherries thing much, much easier. Not to worry though, I had a plastic drinking straw. You simply put the cherry on top and pull it down onto the straw, leaving the pit at the top. Ideally, you need three hands: one to hold the cherry, one to hold the straw, and one to hold the camera. Alas, I have only two. Such is life.  I had to settle for pitting it, wiping off my hand, and snapping a picture. If you're not photographing, don't feel bad about not having a third hand.

The cherry pitter is a much faster process than using the straw. You also get a much neater hole, instead of a mangled cherry. (The appearance doesn't matter when making jam since the cherries are chopped.)

One more tip - don't pit the cherries near a drainer full of clean, drying dishes. I splattered cherry juice everywhere . . . and I was being careful! A pitter is a much cleaner process. 

I absolutely love my food processor. It is a magical tool. You dump in cupfuls of fruit, pulse for seconds, and get perfectly chopped  mush.

But beware! It may be "too loud" for some. 

Isn't that beautiful? Alyssa and I were ready right then and there to grab a straw and slurp away. Mmm, it smelled sooo good already. All we needed was a little vanilla ice cream, and we could have whipped up some shakes in no time!

But no, back to the jam . . .

After combining those shades of red, she added the thickening agent, the pectin.

She stirred it up some more, let it boil, and added the sugar. Personally, I suggest trying to get all the sugar in the pot. You can, however, do what you choose. It's just a preference of mine to contain the sugar with the other ingredients. I know, I'm silly like that.

Here's where it really gets fun! As the mixture comes to a boil, the pectin starts to do its job. The liquid thickens and bubbles. It gets frothy and fills the pot. It was like having our own volcano oozing hot, red lava right there in the kitchen. Thankfully, the volcano didn't erupt!

We canned a few jars. (Jarred a few cans?) Having never canned before, I was almost skeptical that it wasn't going to work or that I would do something wrong. It was pretty exciting when I saw that they did indeed seal! Yea!

The jam was incredibly yummy! It reminds me of strawberry-rhubarb pie (my favorite!) It goes perfectly with freshly baked homemade bread. Delicious! I would definitely make this again . . . after I buy a cherry pitter.