I'm not exactly a domestic goddess. I don't take to kitchen-related tasks naturally. So it should be no surprise that I never learned how to make jam. I think I made freezer jam once in the 70's, and I remember it being runny and not-so-great. Partner-in-crime Chris, on the other hand, grew up in a very food/produce-centric Italian family, and definitely knows her way around a kitchen....and she decided it was high time I put a batch of home-canned jam on my pantry shelf. Berry season in Oregon is a big deal and we are blessed with an abundance of raspberries, marionberries, blackberries, and blueberries this time of year, (sadly, our strawberry crops weren't so good since we had such a rainy & cold early summer) and lots of u-pick farms. A few weeks ago, off we went to pick yummy raspberries:
 | |
| my berry good friend Chris | | | |
|
 |
| Not sure WHAT was up with my hair that day | | |
|
|
We went to Chris's kitchen, and she patiently showed me all the steps.
 |
| Yes, that's a snowman apron in the middle of July. It goes perfectly with my weird hair. |
|
And look what I ended up with!
 |
| My little baby.....I'm so proud! |
|
A few days later, we got marionberries, and I made
another batch of jam for my pantry. Who
am I?? We brought along another trusty picker on that trip, and while we were getting the marionberries, she was piling up luscious blueberries:
 |
| That's my girl! |
I've gone back two more times to load up and now we have a freezer-full of blueberries. The idea was to have some stashed away for the winter, but we can't stop eating them.
Maybe all that jam will stay on the shelf long enough to satisfy our wintertime fruit cravings. Maybe.
YUM!
