Berry, Berry Happy

This year Rick & I discovered a ton of wild Blackberry bushes growing all around the homestead, and we’re going to take full advantage of it (until the bears discover it, of course).

So if you guessed Blackberry Jam in my last post, you win a cookie!

I have never, in all my years of canning, made jams or jellies.  Don’t ask me why, but I’ve never really had the hankering to try something “new” like that.  I figured it would be all hard with hours of prep work, sweating over the stove (blah, blah, whine, snivel), but actually it was quite simple.  I only needed 2 things:  berries and sugar (OK, more than 2 things if you count the jars, lids, and canner, but I already had those things so they don’t count), and I had plenty of both.

On Sunday Rick set out to see what the ripening level of the biggest patch was, and in no time flat we had enough berries for a batch of jam.  Just to be on the safe side, I did one more go-through on Monday and added another full tin to the party.

A quick internet search for the perfect recipe (perfect = easy) that didn’t require Pectin.  Why didn’t I want Pectin?  Because a) I didn’t have any; b) I didn’t want to buy any; and c) I wanted this to be all organic.

My party, my rules.

The recipe?  50-50 fruit and sugar.  Boil to 220 degrees, skim the foam, fill the jars and hot water bath process for 10 minutes.

Out of 3-1/2 cups of mashed berries, I got six 1/2 pints of jam.

Color me ecstatic.

And the way that the berries are ripening, I’m going to be making quite a bit of jam in the next 2 weeks.

And that makes me berry, berry happy.