pumpkinstrokemarrow

So yesterday afternoon, off of to the roundabout at the southern end of Horton Lane to pick some more blackberries. Very variable in size and ripeness but the three of us managed about 6lbs in an hour. Not quite as carefully graded and placed as the ones you buy by the quarter pound, but infinitely cheaper.

BH had frozen half of them for use as flavour for falling cooking apples through the Autumn when it suddenly dawned on me that one could make jam with the things.

It turns out that we had some preserving sugar - thought it prudent not to check the best buy date - and we had three very unripe cooking apples from a neighbouring tree. Some of the sugar had added pectin and I think unripe cooking apples are fairly pectin full so that promised a good set.

Poked around and rescued four jam jars, two large and two small. Wondering the while how many jam jars we must have chucked away over the years. Washed them and then popped them in the oven to warm.

So three apples, 2lb 4oz of blackberries, 2lb 4oz of sugar and half a pint or so of water. Boil for hours. Oddly, no scum. Also oddly, the apples fell apart as if they had a skin. Although I had quartered, cored and peeled them, when cooking they crumpled up from the inside, with the outer layer floating about for a good while after the contents had dissolved. Tested drops for set on a plate from time to time and eventually the jam, having now acquired a very deep red colour, rather splendid, started to sputter a bit, with flying drops of jam arriving on the surrounding surfaces. I decided that we were probably in business and decanted the stuff into the warmed up jars. Two full small, one full large and one half full large.

BH has a rummage and finds a supply of slips to put directly on the jam when hot and covers to put on the jars when cold. Even the odd mob cap for jars in progress (see illustration).

So this morning I could move onto a truly heart warming, healthy and organic breakfast. Water from our own tap, guaranteed not to have passed through more than 7 people since it was last rain. Bread of my own making and blackberry jam with a touch of apple, also of my own making. Blackberries and apples grown nearby and definitely touched by human hand. Finest way of mainlining sugar beet known to man. Both set and texture spot on.