Friday, October 8, 2010

Boy! Do they eat?!?

Yesterday as they skies threatened to burst I worked in the kitchen. My two favorite things are cooking for my family and gardening. I turn on my music and just enjoy the time that I have in my kitchen.

I also enjoy my own food. I often hear people say: "It always tastes better when someone else has prepared it!" I disagree. I am not only preparing food to feed bodies, but when I cook for friends and family, I am giving my love and time to the meal as well. My reward is in the eating of it.

I made delicious blueberry jam yesterday using my Balls Book of Canning. This recipe does not need pectin which I cannot find in SA, but you chop 5 tart apples and 2 lemons (skins, peel and cores) and boil gently until soft. Then you sieve it and the yield is 2 cups of smooth apple sauce (apples are high in natural pectin).


This is added to 4 cups of blueberries and 3 cups of sugar and then brought to a rolling boil. When the jam gels decant into warm sterilized jars. While in London I bought a jam funnel and it made the job so much easier.



I then used another bag of blueberries to make this blueberry pie. My children had friends over in the afternoon...AND THEY POLISHED IT OFF!!! Ok, not quite, they left two SMALL slices for me and Superman for after dinner. I have to admit it...it was delicious.

4 comments:

primitive ole frugal mumma said...

yum the pie looks sooo good ... and i agree i to love to eat what i cook and bake and it also gives me much joy dishing it up to my family , and your jam jars look great :-)

Lois Evensen said...

Oh, so good. I haven't made jam for a long time, but make applesauce often. I have a neighbor who makes the jam and I make bread. We meet at the back fence to share what we make with each other. So nice!

Lori said...

I stumbled across your blog from Down to Earth. I have a question... In some of your pictures I noticed the lids on some of your jars look like the ones from store bought items. Are they? Do you put them in a water bath to seal them? Have you had any problems with them not sealing?

Thanks! I love your blog.

A willing student said...

I came back from Belgium last year with pectin. My friend would not believe me that it is not available in South Africa. I tried again at Pick 'n Pay to no avail. I happened to comment on this when in the pharmacy and what do you know! The pharmacy had pectin. The one I happened to be in was the one at Long Beach Mall near Kommejie. However, you might want to try one close to you.