Let's jam!

Or is it jelly? I always get the two confused, but as opposed to jam, jelly has no berries (only the juice by straining the berries) which might be good with blackberries so there are no seed to crud up your teeth. Blueberries don't have those pesky seed, so jam it is.

Let's start with some a few tips on the basics of canning:
1. It's not hard albeit a bit intimidating. If you can read, you can can (haha can can!)

2. Use fresh berries if possible. Late June and July in Alabama are berry season. Grow your own or visit a u-pick and take advantage. Don't have any bushes? The fall is a great time to make any additions to your landscape and blueberry bushes make a great addition. Haven't you heard? Edible landscapes are all the rage...kinda like backyard chickens are "in" right now. Don't fret if you don't have fresh berries. Frozen will work just fine.

2. Expect your kitchen to be trashed. No two ways about this one, your kitchen will be a wicked mess with lots of tools and jars and lids and ingredients. Set aside 2 hours and start with a clean kitchen.

3. While Canning is not hard, there is some timing involved - sorta like having your steak, baked potato and rolls all ready at the same time.

The BEST tip I can give you is to put your jars in the dishwasher prior to starting the jam. This will have them clean and hot. And they will stay hot until you are ready to put the jam in them. Cold jars can break when you fill them with the hot jam or maybe not seal properly...or SOMETHING BAD. Doesn't matter. Have them hot cause all the internet cooks say "do this". Who am I to question ALL the cooks on the internet?

Stay tuned for the next segment on canning with necessary tools, recipes, instructions, etc. But right now, the oven timer is going off, and the next project needs my attention. I know you'll find this hard to believe, but most of the time, "what I'm doing today" happened 2 weeks ago! Blogging is hard work and very time consuming. Why do I do this ? Must be insanity....