Jam Session!

Oh hot damn!
Blueberry Jam!
Keep me eating toast until the AM!

Mira and Raya had a jam-making session today. They bought the blueberries and did all the hard stuff (wash, zest, macerate) last night when I was at my old apartment cleaning it. BUT I’M DONE WITH IT! Hahahaha. Ok. Blueberry jam!

These are the pots and pans used in the jam-making process.

The “surgical” tools. From left to right: magnetic lid-lifter,  jar tightener, funnel, jar-lifter, tongs, thermometer.

Mira sniffing the blueberry mixture of blueberries, sugar and lime zest. So precious!! Don’t you just love Raya’s Paula Deen cookware? “For a smelling picture, this is actually kind of flattering,” Mira said excitedly.

Mira wearing Raya’s apron. Of course, since she’s wearing an apron, she got no blueberry on her...at all. That’s the point of wearing an apron. It causes no spillage :)

 

The blueberries right after they were poured in the pot were soo pretty. They had to simmer for approx. 20 minutes in the reduced blueberry syrup, which was the liquid part of the macerating process.

Initially, Raya had used a shallow serving spoon to put the jam in the jars. However, this had proved difficult since the spoon was not big enough. Mira and I went to the grocery store to pick up a ladle, but when we got back, Raya had already put the jam in the jars!

After capping the jars, boiling them is necessary to create a hermetic seal. Raya used the jar lifter to place them in the boiling water.

During the simmering process, sometimes foam forms on the top. Raya skimmed it off and then we ate bread with the jam-foam. It was pretty tasty.

The Fruits of our Labor! The jam is named “Raya’s Blueberry Lime Jam Aug 2010”