Monday, July 13, 2009

Go Local Challenge: Jammin'

The plan started out simple enough. A friend and I were going to take advantage of my new big kitchen to do a little jamming. We planned. We researched. We emailed and dolled out tasks. We were just going to do three jams: raspberry, black berry and orange marmalade.

But when my dear friend showed up at my place after picking up the fruit, it quickly became obvious we were in for an adventure of sticky proportions! She bought: raspberries, black berries (enough for two batches each), oranges, plums, peaches, pluots and cherries.

So we quickly got to work. And we washed, stirred, chopped, pureed, boiled and stirred some more. The final product: 85 jars of delicious jams and marmalade of various shapes and sizes.

Turns out, when you plan a jammin' session with a friend who grew up on a working farm in rural Oregon, a day of jammin' means something else altogether. Next up, we plan more jammin' this fall with pizza and pasta sauces. I can't wait!





9 comments:

Jessica said...

I always jam with my best friend. I did some strawberry a couple of weeks ago and this week (if the rain holds out) we will be making 4 batches of raspberry!

lynnm said...

Wow! I thought my 3 batches (strawberry-rhubarb, hot pepper and mint-rosemary wine jelly) was alot. I am impressed.

Sara K. said...

WOW! WOW! WOW! This may be why Shawn is not so keen on my desire to jam. He keeps saying...where are we going to put it all? I am so impressed and only wish that I could have been there to get a slice of that sticky fun! -S

heather jane said...

Ho-ly Moses! That's a LOT of jam.

Holli said...

Oh, Meg! This is amazing. That jams is gonna last all winter for sure. How exciting!!

I had a weekend of making jam planned and then a virus hit and I've been off my feet for days.

Jen said...

That was a serious jam making!!! Yummy!

STEPHANIE. said...

oh yummy! I have been meaning to do this this season still. looks great!

Shannon @ AnchorMommy said...

Look at you go, Meg! Way to break in that new kitchen of yours!!!

Val in the Rose Garden said...

YUMMY! Those look amazing! I don't have the patience for jam. I am much more of a sauce girl. Tomato sauce, apple sauce, peach sauce, etc. Those are the things I store away year after year... but wow. Yours look delicious!

Val