jammin'

I started out with making strawberry jam and a few combined flavours like strawberry banana and strawberry rhubarb. Nuno was even thoughtful enough to take some time and create this illustration for my jam lid's. Pretty cute, eh? But, one of my main goals this summer was to make Apricot Jam.

It's my favourite type of jam because it's so versatile. I had no idea when I decided this just how simple it is. You wash, pit, chop and preserve! No straining or removing of the peel, which is really nice.

I made three batches. The first and last were the jam recipe supplied by Certo pectin and the second batch was from Fresh. Anna Olson's Apricot Preserves recipe was quite a bit more involved, but I wanted to make a special batch. I had no idea just how involved it would be until I realized I had to track down some lavender. As fate would have it, I was shopping at Harvest Barn looking for lavender when I discovered that up the road was a lavender cultivator.

This is Lavender Boutique located at the Great Mountain Centre on Niagara Stone Road and the people who run it are fantastic! I had no idea that I couldn't use ordinary lavender (like the kind that's growing at the side of my house), but they snipped me some culinary lavender and sent me on my way. No charge! Pretty nice, eh?

I am so happy with the result of Anna Olson's Apricot Preserves. It set up perfectly and the taste is so fantastic for special occasions like on a cheese plate or topping on a special dessert.

a strawberry story

Yesterday was strawberry picking day! I'm super excited to be making jam this year and I'm starting with Strawberries. I put on my strawberry shirt, enlisted Katie for help with Owen and we drove out to Bry-Anne Farms for some mid-day picking.

Here's Owen and I. This is a picture of what NOT to do when you decide to go strawberry picking. First off, don't wear a ridiculous ruffled strawberry shirt. Don't wear sandals or any open toe shoes. Don't leave your leg's exposed. And above all, don't take your stroller for some off-road action into the patch. Somehow after looking totally amateur next to all the galosh wearing expert pickers out there we had tons and tons of fun. Seriously, the bounty was unbelievable out there. I could afford to be totally choosy and pick the brightest and juiciest berries.

We walked out with too many berries than we knew what to do with. I immediately went home and made strawberry jam and banberry jam (what else but a combo of strawberry and banana!). Banberry jam is totally dreamy, how is this not available in the supermarket?

There are so many left overs it kills me. I feel under the gun to get these preserved before they go bad. I'll be having lots of fun for the next few days discovering all the different ways to use strawberries without the use of an oven. Starting off this morning with a strawberry & banana smoothie!