Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Getting back to blackberries

With all the craziness surrounding my SIL's death, I never had a chance to share my blackberry adventures. I suppose now is as good a time as any, since all we did this weekend was laze about, and I have nothing of interest to share. Labor day it was not around here.

When you want to make blackberry jam, the first thing you have to do is pick the berries. No brainer, right? The only problem is that two certain people, who shall remain nameless, claim that they want to help me in my endeavor. Unfortunately, a great deal of the berries they pick end up somewhere other than my bucket.

Regardless, between some help from my mother and thanks to my early morning enthusiasm, I ended up with just enough to make a batch.


N wanted her picture taken with the berries that she didn't help pick.
*

Making jam involves a lot of boiling and cooking of the berries and other ingredients. (Including oodles and oodles of sugar. I say oodles and oodles because I can't remember if it was seven cups or nine.) You stand at the stove and stir, and then you stir some more, after which you stir. Eventually you have a mass of hot berry jam that has a coat of fluff on the top that has to be taken off.


After that you just get the jam into jars, and wa-la! Blackberry Jam! Which I didn't take a picture of when I was done. I am clever, no?

FYI The dogs were very helpful through it all.

3 comments:

Ali said...

The blackberry bushes around my house produced such a piddly amount I didn't even have enough for a cobbler:( Aren't dogs so helpful?!

Susiewearsthepants said...

This is a really great post, I love the pictures. Everyone looks so cute.

Claremont First Ward said...

Good thing the dog was so helpful! There is NOTHING like Blackberry jam, but collecting those berries can be a real adventure!

Has the jam been devoured yet?