Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Catching Up On My Summer Exploits

Canning!
So... this summer I tried something new. I learned how to can. Once formerly intimidated by tales of botulism and food poisoning, I ventured forth into this new frontier. My first attempt was blueberry jam. The girls and I had picked about 3 quarts of fresh blueberries, and I decided that my maiden voyage would be to turn these blueberries into a permanent testament to our adventure (picking blueberries) and my superior skills at all things domestic. I may have made a few mistakes along the way. I cooked the blueberries too long and added pectin, the combination of which made for quite a firm jam. A jam you could slice. A jam you had to put some muscle into to spread. This failure was accompanied by poached fingertips from not using/having the proper tools, and jam-splatter burns. My second attempt was for strawberry jam. This time I used strawberries procured from the grocery store. Once again, in my never ending quest in life to see what exactly would happen "if I did things slightly different than the directions called for," I added the ingredients in reverse order. What I ended up with was a jam that did not set (read: strawberry sauce), and that tasted somewhat off-putting. Lesson learned. (Again with the lack-of-proper-tool issues) So now we are on to my third attempt. Plum jam without pectin. Followed directions. Success! Used proper canning tools! Canning without pain! Although, if someone has a solution for avoiding jam spatter that does not require wearing a full-body teflon suit and goggles, let me know...

1 comment:

  1. Personally, I have tasted these delights and find them to be especially delicious in spite of the lack of perfection stated by the Trophy Wife. My personal favorite is the marmalade created after the first three.

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