Monday, October 14, 2013

Blue Blooded Diva Blueberry Jam

I love blueberry jam.


 Too bad we can't grow them here.

I am pretty sure I know why......

  I think they are jealous of my raspberry bushes, so they pretend that our soil isn't good enough!
 Blueberries are kinda stuck up.  They are the blue blooded, high maintenance Divas of the berry world.  There, I said it!

 How easy it is to go to the supermarket and just buy a case anyways....especially when you get a smokin deal! I bought a case of twelve 1-pint boxes for
 10 bucks!  You don't have to stand out in a blueberry patch, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and have your heart jump started every few seconds cuz you think a sneaky mouse is coming for you.

  I was able to make 15 jars of jam and freeze a heaping bag full for smoothies.
I washed the berries and spread them on a cookie sheet with a tea towel to absorb the water.
Freeze overnight and pop them in a freezer bag the next morning.  This way they don't stick in a clump.


 As far as the jam goes, I just used the recipe from the pectin boxes.

  I made two separate batches using Certo light, which called for less sugar, and Bernardin pectin for the second batch, which used a fair amount more.  I actually preferred the batch with less sugar!  Go figure, me, a die hard sugar junkie!  It tasted less cooked, IMHO.

The usual jam making procedure...
 Harvest berries (from the grocery store)

wash thoroughly 

follow recipe on pectin box

sterilize



 
Those jam jars are such posers!



I also made a batch of bread to make it even more sexy!



 If you want a fancy boutique bread, without kneading or fussing,  come back tomorrow for the recipe.  It would be a great loaf to hollow out for a spinach dip, as the crust is rather quite chewy and the inside is soft and spongy.
Cheers.