Raspberries

~Raspberry Picking & Jammin'~

 

 

Wayne and I went raspberry picking yesterday. Too bad I forgot the camera...it was a beautiful day! We spent maybe an hour in the warm sunshine, plucking 8 pints of glorious berries. Plump, juicy, sweet, tart....aren't they gorgeous?

His favorite jam is raspberry, seeds and all. It *is* tasty, so we whipped up a couple batches today.

If you've never canned, definitely give it a try! All the supplies are easily found at your local hardware store, grocery store or Wal-Mart. I've snagged jars and pots at garage sales, too. For making jams, jellies and pickles a pressure canner is NOT required. Just a simple hot water bath. Easy!

Get your fruit, pectin and sugar out. Get your supplies ready, sterilize jars and utensils.

Smash your fruit to the amount called for in the recipe. (Full directions are included in every box of pectin.) We needed 5 cups:

Add a cup of water and gradually stir in powdered pectin. (Note: I prefer the no-sugar added pectin. You can use anywhere from 0-3 cups of sugar per recipe. MUCH better flavor than the traditional jam, which uses SIX cups of sugar! Ouch.) Bring to a boil and add your sugar. Stir constantly! You can see Wayne stirring like mad:

Ladle into hot, waiting jars and place into the canner. Make sure the water is simmering.

Cover and gently boil for 10 minutes. Remove from canner with a jar lifter. Each batch yielded 8 beautiful jars!

Breakfast tomorrow? Toast with butter and raspberry jam, of course!