How Sweet It Is!

Inspired by the pure deliciousness of some freezer jam that Beth brought to Michigan with her, I decided to make some myself, and since it is amusing for my three loyal readers to occasionally glimpse my kitchen shenanigans, I decided to share this little project with you-all.

Many thanks to Granny for providing little jelly jars for my experiment.

Below you will see the supplies.

 

 

And now, below, you will see the reason why I will never make this particular type of freezer jam again. That, my loyal readers, is 5.5 cups of sugar. 

 

 

I may be preparing to make a deadly refined-sugar poisonous treat, but at least I have a fancy spatula, as you can see below. 

 

 

Here is a close-up of a standard pectin pack. Before attempting my freezer jam, I had never before seen pectin, nor did I know what it was. Turns out it's a collection of "partial methyl esters of polygalacturonic acid," so your guess is as good as mine. 

 

 

And below...rewind to me smoooshing all the antioxidants out of my blueberries so they could be eaten by the 5.5 cups of refined sugar...

 

 

And finally, after mixing together those three ingredients and performing an ancient alchemical jelly dance...the happy result! 6.5 containers of SUPERDELICIOUS blueberry freezer jam! Great news! I ate a tablespoon on some zuchini bread, and I am proud to announce that at no point in time did I keel over dead. :)

 

 

Merry Christmas to five of my associates (I plan to keep 1 jar for myself and have already consumed the 1/2 jar): here's some diabetes in a jelly jar.

 

Lucky for everyone, there is a better way. There is a special brand of pectin you can buy which allows you to make the same amount of jam using just ONE CUP of RAW HONEY! Wooohooo!

 

By way of advertisement, I will also announce that I have pledged my loyalty to the producer of what will be my favorite honey for the duration of my stay in Northwest Indiana: Panos Farms in Michigan City. Regardless of whatever dirt you have on the Panos clan and any shady dealings they might be involved in, their honey won me over and I refuse to use anything else as long as I have access to it.

 

So. After my Blueberry Jam of Death has been consumed, I will make another batch, likely of a different flavor, to share with you here. Something for you to look forward to.