Back to those berries...

What's a girl to do with 19lbs of berries? Make jam of course. Actually I froze a good amount of them (along with most of the peaches and nectarines we had bought the weekend before). I see blueberry pies, muffins, cobblers, and all number of good things in our future. But with the rest I decided to try my hand at jam. I must confess though that I cheated and made freezer jam, but not because I wasn't motivated to try full out canning. However, I lack the supplies for that and the money to buy them. So freezer jam it is. And oh, is it good (if I do say so myself)! For the last two weeks I have had a daily dose of toast and jam on the side of my coffee, not to mention a midnight snack. Steven has been mixing it into his oatmeal. It's so flavorful. At the rate that we are all consuming it, I don't see it lasting very long. That just means we need to take another trip to the berry patch before the season is over! In the recipe below it calls for crushed blueberries. This makes a very chunky jam, which I love. Steven wasn't a huge fan of the blueberry skin so I pureed the second batch. Some people say this can change the way the jam sets up. I didn't see a difference. The pureed batch still made some very fine jam.

Black and Blue Jam:

4 cups blueberries
2 cups blackberries
5 cups sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1 package powdered fruit pectin (for a thicker jam, add 1/2 package of pectin and 1/4 cup water

In a large bowl, crush the blueberries by hand. Add the blackberries and crush. Stir in sugar and lemon juice. Let stand for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring water and pectin to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add to fruit mixture; stir for 3 minutes. Pour into jars or freezer containers; cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. cover and let stand overnight, but no longer than 24 hours. Refrigerate or Freeze. Store in freezer for up to 1 year, or in refrigerator for up to 1 month. Makes approximately 8 8oz. jars of jam. Enjoy!