More houswifing.

   You probably think what's up with all this canning and preserving, but I'm telling you, there is nothing better than a home made fruit jam. I know that some people might be scared and intimidated by canning and think that it takes long time and cost a lot of money. It couldn't be further from the truth. We always go to the farm to pick our own fruit, which is way cheaper and way better than a store bought, and the canning itself takes no more then an hour (this blueberry jam took me 15 minutes from the beginning to the end - seriously!!!). And just wait when you taste it... it's amazing. You can actually taste the fruit, it's not too sweet, it's tangy and chunky. Just a perfect jam. From 3 pounds of blueberries I got 7 jars of jam... and I "tasted" some on the way.

Ingredients:

*  3 lbs fresh blueberries
*  1 cup sugar
*  1 tbsp lemon juice
*  2 tbsp pectin

Directions:

1. Wash and drain blueberries, transfer them into a big pot and crush them gently with a potato masher. I don't crush all of them, I like chunks of fruit in my jam.
2. Bring blueberries to boil, add sugar and lemon juice and cook on high heat for 5 minutes (constantly stirring). Add pectin and boil for 1 minute.
3. In the meantime, boil small jars and lids for about 4-5 minutes.
4. Transfer hot jam into a hot jars, wipe the edges of the jar, cover with hot lid and close tightly. Repeat with remaining jars and fruit.
5. Transfer jars into a boiling water (make sure that the water doesn't touch the lids) and boil for 5 minutes. Transfer onto a kitchen towel until lids "pop" and jam cools down. Store in room temperature, on your pantry shelf.

   I have to warn you that it is not too sweet. I just hate over-sweetened jams, where you can't really taste any fruit and it's like eating a bowl of sugar. So if you like your jam a little bit sweeter, you can add some extra  sugar... just taste it as you are making it. I think this one is just perfect!

Enjoy,
Magda.