Jam On

The Blue Chair Jam Class

learning from Rachel

making our jam

so many jars

filling our jars

making jam on my own

apricots

over the stove

blanching

apricot jam

taste testing

the new and improved pear vanilla jam

Jam On!

After taking The Blue Chair Jamming Class I came back incredibly inspired. I asked Rachel to critique my jam and give me her honest oppinion as to what she thought ... she said: peel your pears, less vanilla bean, and cook for longer. So what did I do? I listened to her comments and made a new and improved pear vanilla jam. I mentioned in my last post that at my graduation party I had a jam tasting table with fresh homemade sourdough bread ... well ... I spent all last week making jam. I made a pear vanilla jam, a strawberry rhubarb, and a first ... an apricot jam. I must say that the apricot jam was the most time consuming but the results were pure jam bliss. The first jam to go at the party was the apricot and the combination of fresh bread, a dab of butter, and apricot jam on fresh bread is pretty much perfection. For those of you who have been considering jamming for the first time or going back for another attempt at jam making I say ... JAM ON! Summer is here and I foresee a lot more jamming days.

10 Jam Making Tips
1. Do find a tried and true recipe
2. USE FRESH FRUIT ... meaning ... when you buy, pick, or forage your fruit use it as soon as you can
3. experiment ... at the jam class I was inspired to create my own template for jam always keeping in mind the ratio of lemon juice to fruit
4. Taste as you go
5. the spoon test never fails
6. use a scale ... I learned recently as my first batch of apricot jam only yielded 4 jars ... all that work for 4 jars!! Believe me a scale was purchased shortly after
7. be precise ... this helps to get great jam results
8. "put up" your Summer fruit now so you can enjoy strawberries in Winter
9.  less is more ... going from two vanilla beans to one vanilla bean really allowed the fruit to be showcased ... in my new batch of pear vanilla jam the pears were not over powered by vanilla bean
10. Do take a class ... even though I jammed before The Blue Chair Jam Class gave me so much inspiration and encouraged me to take my jam to the next level ... the class was just what I needed.

Summer
right now: making a french toast casserole a la Paula Deen
feeling: loving
reading: the latest issue of Bon Appétit
saving for: my trip to France
practicing: my French ... I am a bit rusty
deciding: where and what to do this Summer
snacking on: dried apricots