Inspired by the accidental purchase of way too many apricots (I was so hungry!) and strawberries on sale for five shekels a kilo, I've taken to making jam. And I thought, well that's a nice little how-to.
Q: Really, Ricki? Jam? What's next, how to crochet lace covers for your tea kettle?
A: Yes, jam. It's delicious, so shush! And ooh, what an interesting idea.
Anyway, this is basically how it goes:
Put a lot of fruit in a pot.
Add some lemon juice.
Cover in sugar.
Boil.
Cool.
Eat.
To be more specific, I used 5 cups of sugar for 2 pounds of apricots, and 4 cups of sugar for 2 pounds of strawberries. Ish. This was after a lot of googling, during which I found no two recipes that were the same (like snowflakes!). So I guess it's just a matter of taste. But really, what I'm trying to say here is, you don't need pectin. And far be it from me not to use lemon juice where and whenever I can possibly use lemon juice, but some recipes called for just a little bit of water instead, or even no additional liquid. I guess this is good to know over the summer, when all of the sudden lemons are going to be something like one million shekels each around here.
Q: So why don't you just freeze lemon juice in ice cube trays like a lot of Israelis apparently do?
A: Why don't I start wearing Crocs everywhere? (I mean the big clogs. Not the cute mary janes that I really wish fit my foot but don't.)
Anyway. You put all the fruit, sugar, and juice (if you're that cool) into a pot over a medium-low flame, and stir it around until the sugar dissolves. Then you basically let it sit there, stirring occasionally. Oh. Beforehand, you should cut off stems / leaves and remove pits. You knew that. But did you know this? Many apricot jam recipes recommend leaving a few of the pits in there while it's cooking. I did this. I don't know how much of a difference it made because I have never done it without, but I can tell you the apricot jam turned out pret-ty awesome.
Q: How do you know when the jam is ready?
A: This question is so boring. But the answer is not. A good way to tell if the jam is ready, is to place a clean plate in the freezer right when you start cooking. When the jam starts to look less liquidy (this takes about an hour), put a teaspoon of the jam (or, almost-jam, if you've been impatient) on the cold plate. If you can swipe your finger through it and the streak will stay in tact, it's ready. This is a good test because the jam will conjeal more as it cools, so it's otherwise hard to tell what the actual consistency will be when the jam is all boily and stuff.
I have plans to get fancy, and start adding all kinds of crazy shit (example: cinnamon) to some of the jams I want to make.
