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...