We have a large rhubarb patch at Le Pré Vert and the damp weather has meant plenty of growth. I’ve pulled some to take home, some for friends and 2kg to make some jam. There was punnet of strawberries in lurking in the fridge so I found a recipe for rhubarb and strawberry jam. I discounted a Nigella recipe which sounded really interesting because it needed to be boiled for a short time each day for 4 days! Now although there's nothing I'd like more than to stay here for a few days longer, I doubt that my headteacher would accept essential jam making to be a reasonable excuse!
At the last minute I threw in a few blueberries, to use them up before we leave.
The recipe suggested that the fruit should be prepared, covered in layers with sugar and left overnight. This morning I was up bright and early to start the boiling and prepare my jars. I didn’t have any waxed circles so had to improvise – seemingly the story of my life. Tim produced the labels.
I'm not sure that the blueberries I used are myrtilles, as I think these are smaller and more akin to whinberries.
Voila. Ten pots of jam.
Any takers?
Very productive -- please feel free to look smug :-) If it's any help, I never use waxed paper on jam.
ReplyDeleteI meant to give you a jar. We carried them all to Pouille!
DeleteSounds marvellous...
ReplyDeleteand as for waxed paper... neither does Pauline!
Just puts the lids in the oven at 110/120 Centipedes along with the dry bottles... and pots up into those... she pots, I lid and place jar to one side, move funnel to the next and then tighten lid firmly while she fills onward.
Seems to work fine... just opened a 2005 Gooseberry Jelly...
lid still firmy sealed... in fact, needed both of us and the boa to remove it!!
Vintage gooseberry jelly.... sounds wonderful! Perhaps I'll keep a jar of my rhubarb.
DeleteThe jam making process has certainly changed since my mother used to pour paraffin wax as a seal! What a lot of palaver that was! My husband is the jam maker -- much to my surprise. He was taught by a girlfriend of mine when we needed to do something with the glut of plums we had in France ... now he'll try his hand at making jam from any kind of fruit! Anyway, Gaynor, well done -- looks very yummy indeed!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteWell done your OH, too. Jam making really isn't difficult but I find that getting round to it is!
Our elderly french neighbour uses wax as a seal.
Looks delicious - and I too, never use waxed paper due to never having any when I need it. I improvise by ignoring and it seems to have worked fine on all my jam.
ReplyDeleteAm itching to start on the early figs again but our poor weather has delayed - or even killed off - the crop thus far.
(WHY wouldn't your head understand? Am baffled at that comment!)
Axxx
She wouldn't understand. Say no more!
DeleteFig jam sounds delicious.
Well done, it looks lovely!
ReplyDeleteI had meant to give everyone at Pouille a jar of jam, but because I forgot they all came back with me!!
DeleteNot sure about the Jam ( not a rhubarb fan) but love Tim's fancy labels... You know what will happen now don't you and Elizabeth has just bought 12kgs of jam sugar.... Better find a strawberry picy. Col
ReplyDeleteQuite right, too!
Delete12kg will make a lot of pots of jam. We dodn't have any sticky labels with us in France so Tim needed to use PVA. Also the red needed changing in our printer.
Will they all be strawberry, or will you customise your new line in labels according to the fruit?
Looks wonderful...I'm just waiting another week or so before I start on the strawberry jam industry that I intend my kitchen to become. I love the way the brico places just seem to assume that everyone makes jams and preserves, so shelves are heaving with jars and interesting looking cooking equipment. Jx
ReplyDeleteI love making jam and chutney. I'm looking forward to the time when I can just make small batches of stuff, rather than feeling like I need to do 12 jars because i don't know when I'll next have time!
DeleteWe are still working our way through a big batch of chutney I made last November.