Blackberry Jam

I can't speak for anyone else, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the mild weather this summer. Despite (or maybe because of) living in South Carolina for nearly five years, I hate to be hot. And here on the East Coast, when it's hot, it's inevitably humid, so going outside on a typical summer day is most often like swimming through a vat of reheated egg drop soup.

Lovely image, that.

But this summer has been absolutely amazing, with most days barely hitting the 80s, lovely, perfect breezes, and just the right ratio of sun to clouds. If the big guy upstairs is taking requests, I'd like to ask for this year round!

So, with another gorgeous weekend on the calendar, it was back to Larriland Farm, this time for peaches and blackberries. The 1/2 bushel of yellow peaches I came back with needed a few days to fully ripen, since they were still a little firm, but I was determined to process the blackberries immediately (and what if a few "broke" in my hand and never quite made it into my box? It was just a tasty little preview of what was to come!).

You know what they say about the best laid plans, right?

Instead of diving right into jam making on Saturday, as planned, I ended up taking a nice nap on my sofa. And then doing dishes. And sorting laundry. And ... stalling.

Sunday was more of the same, but at least I had the excuse of going to see my sister-in-law's production of "Godspell" and then going out for dinner with her and my brother afterward.

Monday came, and there were no more excuses, but quite a bit of urgency - the berries were softening in the fridge and needed to be cooked. And my peaches were softening on the counter, and were getting close to needing to be processed themselves.

The original plan was to make three different batches of jam, but as I was finishing up batch #2, I noticed I didn't quite have enough to make a third full batch. I'll either have to make a run to the grocery store to buy more berries, or I'll just make a blackberry tart or cobbler tonight after work.

But the two batches I did make (Blackberry Port Jam & Blackberry Lemon Jam) turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself!

Blackberry Port Jam

courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

• 4 cups blackberries
• 5 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 box powdered pectin
• 1 cup port or sweet red wine (I used the port from Cygnus Winery, a locally made port that I bought at the Great Grapes Wine Festival several years ago when I worked for a competing winery)
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

1. Place the blackberries in an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot. Using a potato masher, crush the berries slightly. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the pectin; gradually stir into the berries. Stir in port and cloves.
2. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 5 1/4 cups sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute or until jam sheets off a metal spoon, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
3. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. (If you have any extra jam, place in an aitright container and store in refrigerator for up 2 weeks.)
4. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks until set.

Blackberry Lemon Jam

• 4 cups blackberries
• 7 cups white sugar
• 1 box powdered pectin
• 1 lemon (juice & zest)

1. Place the blackberries in an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot. Using a potato masher, crush the berries slightly. 
2. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar. Cut lemon in half, removing seeds on the surface, and squeeze juice into mixture (approximately 2 Tbsp). Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute or until jam sheets off a metal spoon, stirring constantly. 
3. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon. Zest lemon & stir into jam.
4. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; attach lids. 
5. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks until set.

Blackberry Port Jam (left) and Blackberry Lemon Jam (right)

I've only recently discovered my love of blackberries - it wasn't something that we ate when we were kids, probably because my mom doesn't care for them. But now that I've discovered them, there's no turning back! Unfortunately, my cookbooks are rather short on recipes for blackberries, so I'm in search of ideas for what to do with my last 4 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries or flavor combinations to try. Comments have been enabled on the blog (finally!), so I welcome your suggestions!

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