I'll take his word for it.

Summer's harvest is in full swing.  We've already put up strawberry jam, raspberry jam, Logan berry jam, and blackberry jam. Then we did cherry, plum, and apricot jams.  Even a few figs made their way through the jamming process.

Tomatoes have been turned into salsa.  Cucumbers turned into Polish, Kosher, and Auntie Faythe's refrigerator pickles.  So far, we've only canned peaches.  (Well, we ate plenty, too.)  If there are any left at Bi-Zi Farms next week, we'll make peach jam.  Then we'll probably do Tomato Basil spaghetti sauce in the next couple of weeks.

We are truly enjoying the preserving process.  The gadgets we bought have made it simple.  We don't do too much at a time.  Just a few jars in the evenings we have free.  We've tried not to do Sunday marathons - don't want to risk it losing its shine.

Today was an exception.  It's a holiday and we've already had our fun for the weekend.  So, we got up and turned a box of Honeycrisp apples into applesauce.  We were done by 11am.  Then, since we had finished early enough, we decided to make something with the bag of Walla Walla Sweet Onions that I had picked up.

As often happens, I find the most interesting ideas while cruising down a rabbit hole on YouTube. I had run across several clips of people making onion jam last year.  Linda and I even gave it a test run.  According to those who eat them (onions), it was a total success.  When I mentioned onion jam this morning, the husband was a bit skeptical.  But then, he acquiesced.  Here's how we made it.  He says it's really good.  I'll take his word for it.

Onion Jam

INGREDIENTS

8	lg Walla Walla sweet onions, chopped
1	stick (1/2 cup) butter
2¼	cups balsamic vinegar
3½	cups brown sugar

Directions

1. Sauté onion in butter until caramelized.

2. Add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.

3. Simmer until sauce is reduced and syrupy.

4. Load into jars and can in water bath canner.

Oh, one last bit of advice.  With this many onions to chop, you might want to get yourself one of these!  Makes quick work of any chopping/dicing/mincing/slicing job.

Do I have raspberries in my hair?

Loganberries

It may seem like an odd question.  But, it really wasn't that far out there when I asked it.  In fact it was a perfectly appropriate and legitimate question after an evening of making loganberry and raspberry jam.  The ruby-colored 12oz jars of loganberry jam were cooling on a towel at the end of the kitchen counter and I had just finished filling pint jars with freshly made raspberry jam.  The last jar was only about 3/4 full.  So, we decided to pour the hot jam into a 12oz jar instead.  I poured, it splattered all over, and I could feel something land in the hair on the top of my head.  That's when it popped out of my mouth, "Do I have raspberries in my hair?"



I ate this raspberry!  Huge!

You should have seen the look on the husband's face!  I think he wasn't sure if he had heard me right.  Then, he realized he had heard me right.  We started into one of those laughing spells that gets funnier the longer you laugh.  He'd get it together and I'd take off.  Then as I would wind down, he'd take off again.  When the gaffaws finally slowed down to a trickle of giggles, I asked him again, "Seriously!  Do I have raspberries in my hair?"  And, off we went again.

To this very moment, I don't know if I had raspberries in my hair or not.  Well, either way, the jam I licked off the ladle was really good!



Pint jars of Raspberry Jam

Raspberry Jam

INGREDIENTS

3	T Classic Pectin
3¼	cups crushed raspberries
½	t butter
2	cups sugar

Directions

1. Wash raspberries in cool, running water and drain.  Crush berries (not too much if you want raspberry chunks in your jam) one layer at a time using a potato masher.

2. Sprinkle pectin evenly over bottom of the pot fitted with the stirrer.  Add crushed berries evenly over pectin.  Add butter to help reduce foaming.

3. Press the “Jam” button and press enter.  Wait four minutes for the appliance to sound four short beeps indicating that it is time to add sugar.  Add sugar gradually while the stirrer continues running.  Place the glass lid on the pot.  (Now, go read a book for the next 18 minutes.)

4. The appliance will continue to automatically stir your ingredients while it cooks.  When it beeps again at the end of the cycle, press cancel and immediately remove the glass lid.  Remove the stirrer using a pot holder and load up your jars.

5. Process jars in the Electric Automatic Canner according to its directions. 

Let me guess, now you're wondering what the difference is between a loganberry and a raspberry, right?  I'll save you some Googling time.  A guy named James Harvey Logan (Lawyer and Horticulturist) accidentally created them in 1883 in Santa Cruz, CA.  He wasn't happy with his blackberries.  So, he tried crossing two different kinds of blackberries.  However, he planted them right next to his raspberry plants.  Everything flowered and fruited at the same time.  Mr Logan gathered and planted the seeds from those berries. Loganberries are less "seedy" than raspberries and it's stalks are less "thorny" than blackberries.  From his 50 plants came all things loganberry.  So, in a nutshell, a loganberry is a hybrid of a blackberry plant pollenated by a neighboring raspberry. By the way, the loganberry has been used as a parent for more recent crosses, such as boysenberries (loganberry + raspberry + blackberry + dewberry).  Aren't you glad you asked?  Next time you eat a loganberry, think fondly of Judge James Harvey Logan!

Summer's coming!

Last year I convince the husband that we needed to buy two more appliances.  If you know me, you're laughing right now.  I might have a little problem with acquiring too many gadgets.  That is NOT an admission of guilt...just a possibility.  To make matters worse, these appliances can only do one thing, which is a Cardinal Sin according to Miz Margaret.  I shall not apologize.

So, what did I buy?  And, more important, have I used them?  Well, it's like this...  I stumbled across the Ball (think canning jars) website and discovered that they have come up with a painless way to make jams & jellies and they made an electric automatic canner.  Genius!

Remember helping your mom or grandmother (in my case, my aunt) make jams and jellies?  The kitchen turned into a hot steamy mess as you stood over the blazing stove for ages stirring and checking and stirring some more.  By the time you got a gazillion jars done, you didn't care if you ever saw another strawberry in your life.

I'll never do it like that again.  These two appliances take all the drudgery out of canning and leave you with the fun, satisfaction, and deliciousness.  Sounds a bit like a commercial for Ball, huh?  Well, it's not.  They don't have the faintest idea who I am and probably never will.  Despite that, I shall remain a loyal fan of their products!

To prepare the jam, add pectin, a dab of butter, your prepared berries.  The Jam & Jelly maker does all the rest.  You can sit down and read a magazine while it heats and stirs the berries for you.  While the jam is going, the Electric Automatic Canner pre-heats (and sterilizes) your jars for you.  When the Jam & Jelly maker is done, you just load up the jars, pop the lids & bands on, and return them to the Electric Automatic Canner.  It only needs a few inches of water and it works somewhat like a very low pressure canner.

We used those two appliances to make applesauce, can peaches, make raspberry, blackberry, peach, pear, nectarine, persimmon, and onion jams, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and I'm sure I've forgotten something.  The point is, I got my money's worth out of them last year.  And, the good news is, we just finished our first two batches of strawberry jam for this year.  I think one of the things I like best, is that you don't have to do a hundred flats of berries at a time.  We just did one or (sometimes) two batches in an evening with whatever fruit was ripe at the time.  For reference, one "load" of jam fills four little jelly jars (8 oz) and two "loads" fills four pint jars.  The canner will take four pint jars at a time (or three quart jars at a time).  It never felt like "work" and we enjoyed every minute - especially the tasting.

We are fortunate enough to live in the great state of Washington.  And, even more fortunate to live a mere 6-ish miles from the Columbia River, which divides Washington and Oregon.  And, everyone knows (or maybe you don't) that the best strawberries in the world are grown right here in this area.  Hood berries (as in Mt Hood) are one of the most sought after varieties, which are known for their outstanding flavor - melt in your mouth, sweet, delicate.

These berries are not Martha S magazine worthy (you know who I mean).  More often than not, they are a little pointy on top, small, misshapen, or just flat out ugly.  But, they are red all the way through and they smell and taste like "real" strawberries.  I think God made them funny looking so that people from other parts of the country won't want them, which leaves more of them for me!

Should you be lucky enough to find some Hood Strawberries, snatch them up and eat them quick.  They are wonderful on shortcake with a pile of whipped cream. They will happily swim around in the strawberry pie.  And, they do make the most delicious jam you can imagine!  Here's the recipe from the Ball Jam & Jelly Maker book.  You won't regret giving these two appliances a try!

Strawberry Jam

INGREDIENTS

3¼	cups crushed strawberries
3	T pectin
½	t butter
2	cups granulated sugar

Directions

1. Wash strawberries in cool, running water and drain.  Remove stems and hulls.  Crush berries (not too much if you want strawberry chunks in your jam) one layer at a time using a potato masher.

2. Sprinkle pectin evenly over bottom of the pot fitted with the stirrer.  Add crushed berries evenly over pectin.  Add butter to help reduce foaming.

3. Press the “Jam” button and press enter.  Wait four minutes for the appliance to sound four short beeps indicating that it is time to add sugar.  Add sugar gradually while the stirrer continues running.  Place the glass lid on the pot.  (Now, go read a book for the next 18 minutes.)

4. The appliance will continue to automatically stir your ingredients while it cooks.  When it beeps again at the end of the cycle, press cancel and immediately remove the glass lid.  Remove the stirrer using a pot holder and load up your jars.

5. Process jars in the Electric Automatic Canner according to its directions.

That's it!  Super easy!

PS  Photo credits for the first two appliance photos go to Ball.