Save the Blueberries

In my high school home economics class we briefly covered canning food. What I took away from that section of the course was 1) pressure cookers can explode like a bomb, raining shrapnel all over your kitchen, and 2) botulism will kill you. To this day I still check for bulging lids before opening a can from the grocery store.

While this is good safety information to have, I don't think the joy of canning really got through to me. In fact, the thought of it terrified me. It wasn't until my in-laws brought over a big box of tomatoes one summer and helped me "put up" the whole batch that I thought just maybe I could give this whole canning thing a whirl.


I'd love to report at this point that I've become a canning whiz and that my pantry shelves are lined with mason jars, filled to the brim with the goodness of summer's bounty. It's not. Maybe if I had a productive garden, I'd be tempted to drag out my canning paraphernalia. But, as I've mentioned before, the only thing that's doing well in my garden is my blueberries.

So, blueberry jam it is. I'm not a seasoned expert at jam, but this one is pretty simple, and if you're only making one batch, you don't even really need to seal it. Just spread on bread and enjoy. It's packed with a lot of flavor and zero High Fructose Corn Syurp. Yeah!

This is my entry for the Under The High Chair Virtual Jam Swap. If you'd like to participate, clink on the link for details.



Lemon Blueberry Preserves
- adapted from Sky High

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1- If using frozen blueberries, thaw them completely in a bowl, saving any juices.

2- Puree the blueberries with any juices they've exuded in a blender. Pass the puree through a coarse strainer to remove the skins.

3- In a heavy, medium, nonreactive saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Continue cooking, stirring often, for 20 minutes, until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup or pass the thickness test. Place 1 tsp of the mixture on a small glass or ceramic plate and put it in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through the thickened puree; a clear path should remain. If it's not ready cook 5 minutes longer and repeat the test. Pour the hot preserves into a hot jam jar and seal with a clean, hot lid. Or, if you're going to use it right away, let the preserves cool, then place in a clean jar, cover, and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Cookies For Frances

When I was in college my sister talked me into joining a book club (she got free books for suckering me into it). I loved the book club but not because I was kept abreast of the latest must-read bodice rippers or thrillers. What I mainly bought from the club was children's books. I am a total pushover for a good, nostalgic picture book. My roommates thought I was strange, but I didn't care as I assembled my collection of books for my someday kids: Madeleine, The Snowy Day, and Goodnight Moon.

One of my favorite characters in kid books is Frances. I've never been sure what she is. A badger maybe? But I totally relate to her view of the world and love the funny songs she sings. And now that I've actually got children, I see how truthful the books are. Especially Bread and Jam for Frances. Ah, yes, the eating jag where only one food will do, much to the frustration of the parents.

All Francis will eat is bread and jam. Despite the best efforts of her parents to lure her into other food groups, she stalwartly stays with bread and jam. But I know I could have swayed her choice. Who would stick to bread and jam when you could have Vanilla Butter cookies with jam? And not just any jam, but Huckleberry /Raspberry jam.


These delightful cookies are the latest in my effort to bake my way through Cookies from Fine Cooking. My husband selected them and a sweet friend gifted me with the jam for Christmas. I used up almost the whole jar, and it was totally worth it. Tender, buttery cookies with delicious, fruity jam sandwiched in between. Heaven for any jam lover, even without the bread.

Vanilla Butter and Jam Sandwich Cookies
adapted from Cookies by Fine Cooking

6-3/4 oz (1-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, or 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Your favorite jam

1- Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 deg. F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder until well blended.

3- In another medium bowl beat the butter on medium-high with a hand-held electric mixer until the butter is smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla bean seeds or extract and continue beating about 2 minutes until the butter and sugar and well combined.

4- Add the eggs and beat for 1 minute longer, until well blended. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended, about 30 seconds.

5- Using a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop, arrange heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough in mounds about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheets. The dough will spread as it bakes. Bake two sheets at a time for 10 to 14 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and turning front to back halfway through baking. The edges should be golden brown.

6- Set the sheets on cooling racks and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough on cooled cookie sheets.

7- When the cookies are completely cooled, pair them up according to size. Place approximately 1 tsp of jam in the center of the bottom cookie on the bottom side, spreading it almost to the edges. Top with the matching cookie, bottom sides together.

As the cookies sit, the jam seeps into the cookie, so if they are prepared more than a day in advance, the cookie becomes moister and jammier. Not a bad thing, in my book.

Selfless Spread

I love making chocolate chip cookies. I love eating chocolate chip cookies. My husband knows this, so it's hard to win good wifey points by saying, "Look, honey, I made you cookies!" Especially when I've eaten five of them before he sees them. He might suspect that it was my greedy tummy more than my selfless love which prompted the cookie baking.

There are some things which I make just for him, though, that he knows without a doubt that it's an act of love for me to make. Marmalade is one of those. I think it's nasty. I'd rather have my toast plain than have to eat marmalade. There are a lot of things I'd rather do than have to eat marmalade. But for some reason, my husband appreciates the bitter taste of orange peel and marmalade is like ambrosia to him. Each to his own. But because I love him, I made marmalade.

I'm not very accomplished at making jams. I'm terrified of ending up with syrup, so I usually cook a bit too long, to be on the safe side, and end up with chunky jam. With marmalade, since it's all chunks anyway, that didn't matter. This recipe was easy and made quite a bit of jam - enough to make my husband happy and even give a few jars away as gifts. Plus, even if I don't want to eat it, I always get a little burst of pride when I look in the pantry and see homemade jam jars lined up.



Orange Marmalade
- adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home by Ina Garten

If you have it available to you, I'd say splurge on organic produce here. Since you're using the whole peel, you'd probably prefer to not have pesticides in your marmalade.

4 large seedless oranges
2 lemons
8 cups water
8 cups of sugar

Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. Discard any seeds. Place the fruit and their juices into a large, stainless steel pot. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar till it is dissolved. Cover and allow the mixture to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, put the pot back over heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the top. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees. The marmalade will be golden orange.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot jam jars. Wipe the rims thoroughly to remove any jam overflow and seal with clean, hot lids. Label and store in the pantry for up to a year.