Summer ritual

Today kicks off the official beginning of Jam Making, a very much enjoyed (and tasty) summer ritual. The various pastures around our place boast several Mulberry trees which we attempt to harvest ahead of the birds and raccoons. The children's summer ritual involves eating enough Mulberries to give them diarrhea ;-) Actually, I'm glad to have them do this, it works as a sort of early summer cleanse.

I have never really been interested in making jam from them though because you can't easily remove the stems but we decided to try it anyway. The results were very pleasing!

When I first began making jam I made loads of freezer jam, a super tasty method that is probably the most popular right now with home canners. I did make one batch of strawberry freezer jam for my folks, my Mom likes it on ice cream. ;-) But the majority of our jam this year will be the good, old fashioned cooked version. Also, I really want to get away from store bought pectin because it costs money and has ingredients that I don't like in it, so I made our jam without added pectin. This results in a different "set" than what I'm used to, but I wonder if that's because the artificial, mass produced product seems "normal" whereas the real deal seems "off" to us? I've found that to be true in so many cases, for instance, what does corn really taste like? Likely you've never had anything but the super sweet, hybridized candy thing that we call corn. It's such a shame how much we've lost. The biggest down side to cooked jam is the loss in yield, we ended up with about half of what we would have had by doing freezer jam (and I can just hear Angie now saying that she's not going to all that trouble to only get half, lol). I also added very, very little sugar, this gives a tarter taste but is more in keeping with our philosophies about sugar consumption. We all loved it when we did the taste test though, so apparently no one misses the sugar.

The other new thing I did this year is to replace the traditional bands and lids with Gulf Wax. I really debated this one because paraffin is a petroleum by-product which I don't like but lids are a constant expense and I don't like that either. Just so you know, the USDA does not recommend using paraffin wax to seal anything because of mold contamination. But I think the USDA is suspect anyway, probably representatives from Ball sit on its advisory board...... but I digress. The nice thing about the wax is that it's endlessly reusable! I really like that, plus it looks quaint and old fashioned which is a nice bonus. Aesthetics are important, right? The USDA representative did say that the only real danger would be mold, which is easily seen upon opening the jar, so it's not like you'd be playing around with botulism or something that can't be seen or tasted. I hope that I will like it as much as I want to like it!

I have found that I can't make too much jam in the evening because it makes my feet swell up, so I try to be finished before noon. I can then go and enjoy the breeze on the porch which is where I've also been doing my sewing lately. I'll have Mr. G or Aleks carry my "sewing table", which is actually my Great Aunt Elizabeth's canning table, out to the porch and I can sew with a comfortable breeze blowing. I like to be there and watch the children play and depending on where Tansy is I can watch her graze. It is a very peaceful feeling. ;-) All of my "work" (should I even call it that?) brings me such a sense of satisfaction. The cooking, canning, dehydrating, sewing, hanging laundry, mending....... none of it is a chore. I'm so thankful that I don't have to leave home to earn money. I really sympathize with those who are compelled to do so!