Jam

A little intermission while I work on some larger pieces that I am still refining...

Jam is one of the easiest things to make at home. Most of the real fruit jams at the grocery store are 5-8 dollars a jar and usually have other additives. You don’t need any special equipment to make it. Some recipes call for a candy thermometer, but I have never used one and I haven’t had an issue with my final product.

You can make most fruit jams the following way; just substitute whatever berry you would like. 2lbs strawberries hulled and halved, 1 cup of sugar (you can adjust if you want it more or less sweet), 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice. I also grate a tablespoon of apple into the mixture as the pectin will make it a little thicker. Put everything in a pot (I mash the berries with a fork a little to release their juices). Bring to a boil and stir, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 40-45 min stirring frequently. Let it cool a little and place in a jar or a bowl and chill overnight.

Making marmalade has 2 extra steps. Wash and peel the zest of 5 or 6 oranges, bring 6 cups of water to boil and add the zest, boil the zest for an hour. It should be really soft after an hour, dice the zest and set aside. Juice the 5-6 oranges and add ½ cup cold water to the juice. Add 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice and 1 tablespoon grated apple (doesn’t matter what type of apple). Add 1 ½ cups sugar, as above you can titrate the amount of sugar based on your taste. Discard the water you boiled the zest in and add juice/water mixture, sugar, zest, grated apple and lemon to the pot bring to a simmer and the reduce to low heat cook for 30-40 min stirring frequently. Let cool a bit and pour into a bowl or jar and chill overnight. You can apply this method to any citrus.

Homemade jams taste better than store bought they have more fruit flavor in my opinion. You can get creative and add vanilla, cardamom or cinnamon etc to make your jams more dynamic.