Blueberry Jam Session

YumSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:57:21 -0700

A couple of months ago, I got together with my pals April and Jessie for what I hope is to become a new tradition of ours: hanging out drinking champagne while doing random bits of domestic diva-ry. This time we were doing one of Jessie's specialties: jam - blueberry jam to be exact.

It all came about when I had my housewarming party back in August. When Jessie arrived she presented me with a jar of homemade jam which caused me to totally pull an Elaine (from Seinfeld). I yelled "SHUT UP," nearly knocked her down and then rudely demanded that we get together to make some in the future. Lucky for me Jessie is a great gal and knows my rudeness was just because I was excited to make my own jam. To check out how ours came out (which I'll cheat and tell you it was great, if not too sweet), and see step-by-step pictures so you can make some yourself, read more

We decided on blueberry since Jessie was craving it, however in the future I think I'd like to try some in season fresh fruits instead. This is a huge batch, we made twelve jars, but you can easily cut the recipe in half. Also, both April and I thought it was too sweet, I'd easily omit a cup or two of the sugar (to taste).

Blueberry Jam
Makes 1 Dozen 8oz Jars

8 cups of frozen blueberries
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 packets of 100% fruit pectin
10 1/2 cups of sugar

First of all, you will need to sterilize the jars.
Wash the jars & lids in hot, soapy water, rinse and then sterilize by putting them in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Since it's best to fill the jars when they are hot (to prevent breakage) you may want to leave them in the hot water until you are almost ready to pour the jam in. Remove them with tongs, they're going to be very hot.

Now on to the jam...

Thaw and drain blueberries. We forgot to thaw our berries, so we ran cold water over them instead.
Place one "layer" (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) of berries into the pot and crush. If you have to crush/mash the berries outside of the pan, you can, however you may end up losing a lot of juices.
Add another "layer" and crush. Repeat until all berries are crushed.
Add lemon juice and stir.
Stir in Fruit Jell pectin and bring to boil. Stir constantly.
Add sugar, stirring to dissolve - again, I thought this was too much sugar...
Return mixture to a rolling boil. You really want this to get going, you're looking for deep bubbles emerging from the bottom. Boil at rolling boil for one minute. Stir constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off any foam (if necessary).
Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4" below the rim. You lose some of the jam this way, but we found it easier to ladle it into a cup measure with a spout and pour from that instead.
Wipe rim clean, place inner lid on jar, and tighten band (just until there is a bit of resistance).
Process jars in boiling water bath. Keep the jars covered with 1" of water and keep the water boiling. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool for 12-24 hours. Lids should be concave in the center. Note: For whatever reason we actually didn't do this step. We made sure all of our lids were concave though. Only one did not stick and we just decided to eat it first. The processing step is to help hinder spoilage.
Decorate with cute cloth if desired!
Label the stickers that come with jars and stick them on your lovely creations!
Once it's cooled, pop-it open and serve with bread, crackers, scones, or even vanilla ice cream!

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Taste Test: Jamba Juice Oatmeal

YumSugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:30:38 -0700

Because I had a coupon to try Jamba Juice's new oatmeal for a buck, and because Monday in San Francisco started with a serious chill, I decided to mix up my usual cold cereal routine and try this warm treat for a change.

Jamba has been advertising this organic oatmeal generously in its storefronts, and the photos of creamy oats topped with fruit enticed me. You can choose from apple-cinnamon, blueberry-blackberry, or banana, all enhanced with "brown sugar crumble."

As you can tell, the genuine article (at right) didn't exactly match Jamba Juice's description or the photos. To see what it's supposed to look like, and to hear what I thought, read more.

Below, is how the oatmeal is pictured online: a nice little cup of oatmeal, topped with a dollop of seemingly fresh fruit and sprinkled with crumbly brown sugar. But rather than a crumble, I got what looked like brown sugar served with a melon baller - and way too much of it.

The fruit, which I mistakenly assumed would be fresh, was actually a jam-like fruit compote better suited to a cobbler. It was somewhat gelatinous and also quite sugary; now I understand why this oatmeal is 280 to 290 calories, something that perplexed me at first. Though the banana version uses fresh fruit, the apple-cinnamon topping is also a premade "compote."

Too bad, because the oatmeal itself was good: nutty and chewable and rich in earthy flavor. But it was hard to taste with the mixed berry goo invading from the top. I'd much rather have the oatmeal on its own, or topped with real fruit. It was definitely better than instant oatmeal, and the hearty portion kept me full, but I don't know that it was worth $3. Good thing I only paid a buck.