So the strawberries are at last slowing down, the finish of the time of year is in sight & do I sense relief that I will no longer be chained to the kitchen counter, three nights a week, cooking strawberries for jam? Am I ill of the sight of them, turning into one myself, in a word, jaded? Surprisingly enough Im not. Six weeks of making jam & I might convey on longer.
I sneak into the larder to calculate the jarshave I traded too many? Will it be enough for the fellowship for the year & what about Christmas presents? Two weeks agone I was merrily flogging it at the market, secure in the knowledge I might make more. Now mates are ringing up calling for to purchase jam & Im grudgingly parting with it but the Scrooge hoarding instinct is kicking in, a sure omen of the finish of the season.
And I never did master the clotted jam versus runny jam dilemma, the jam resolved for itself what it would become, not me. So I can’t thus far arrogate to be a pro jam maker, not when the jam is in bill of the process. Further experiments will have to await until next year, when at the opening of the new time of year I may afford to be lavish with the strawberries & whenever a batch burns in the try to thicken it wont be a disaster, Ill be capable to use it for baking jam squares, wherever the caramel overtones are a bonus.
Part of the magic of strawberries is their zestful color as well as their scent. Im going to overlook the piles of yield on the table, awaiting to be sorted for selling, in the fridge in punnets, to be delivered in the morning, bowls of seconds for the fellowship to consume & containers of the remain for jam. The youngberries will be begining soon, like blackberries, they have their personal allure & make fine summertime puddings, but they just dont rather have that special anything that strawberries have!
So what will I fill my jars with now? Well the good news is that apricots are just begining to creep into the shops. Unfortunately we only have one tree & this year it has really tiny yield on it, we want to plant many more trees but it will be a couple of years earlier they create properly.
So we control out the yield in the shops. Its a bit like playing the stock market. Were awaiting for the cost to come down, to purchase loads & jam them all, but whenever we await too long & misjudge the timing the cost will shoot up once more or therell be nothing left, its a brief season. So maybe Ill play it safe & purchase a couple of kilos next week & then hope to splurge the week after on 5 kilos as inexpensive as may be, but I cant chance being arrested brief of apricot jam. Were on our last jar of last years & therell be a fellowship uprising whenever I dont get in next years supply.
The apricot jam recipe really alike to the strawberry jam recipe but less temperamental. The worst Ive managed to do has been combust it & even then it was usable in baking, just a delicate caramel added flavour!
1 kg apricots halved & stoned
750g sugar
Pack yield & sugar in a stainless steel or enamel pan & keep in fridge overnight. Heat slowly, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat a bit & boil rapidly (stir occasionally to prevent burning) for about 20-30 mins. Test a dangle on a freezing plate. If, after 2 minutes, when you push your fingernail through it, the skin wrinkles, it is done. If not test each 5 minutes until it does. Pour into sizzling sterilised jam jars & seal immediately.
NB apricots have enough of pectin, so you dont want to enlarge lemon juice to get the set.
For more tips on jam making & the strawberry jam recipe, appear at my report Strawberry Jamming Again.
Copyright 2005 Kit Heathcock
A Flower Gallery
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