I've been working the month of February trying to make a few batches of jams a week.
I've accomplished getting our Christmas Jams made for our church family and have them all neatly tucked away in a tote.
Then last week, and again yesterday, I started making jams to replenish our supply here at the house.
At Strong Heart's request, I made some of it with honey.
I've done Blueberry Jam, Cherry Jam, and now
Currant Jam.
I made some of the Blueberry Jam with honey and some with sugar.
I did the same with the Cherry Jam.
When I did the Currant Jam yesterday,
I decided to just make it all with honey.
Using honey as the sweetener is something that I've never done before.
I was a bit hesitant, but he seldom ever asks me to do anything special
so, I certainly wasn't going to turn him down.
This is the product that I used.
It's activated by calcium, which has calcium powder in the box along with the pectin. You just dissolve the calcium powder in water, add the correct amount for your recipe, and put it in the pan with your crushed fruit. Then mix the pectin and honey together. Once the crushed fruit has come to a boil, you simply add the pectin/honey mixture to the pan, stir vigorously for one minute and jar up the jam.
I'm really glad that I gave it a try,
even though it took me out of my comfort zone.
Perhaps I'm growing a bit in resilience?
what a cheerful delightful goal during a dreary month!!
ReplyDeleteI love to make jam and jelly, and I prefer to do it in the winter. When the fruit is fresh from the vine, there's always so many other things in the garden that need to be preserved, so I put the fruit in the freezer and have my jam making fun in the winter. :)
DeleteI'll have to share this with our DIL they buy local honey gallons at a time and like to use honey instead of sugar in a lot of recipes. Thanks for going forward in resilience to be able to share this with us. I will share a post about the church event probably on Friday. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteWe love honey as opposed to sugar, and we also love maple syrup. We don't have anyone here locally that we can purchase our honey from, but there's a Mennonite man in a village about 45 minutes from us that we always purchase our honey from. It really made delicious jams. :) Looking forward to reading about the church event!
DeleteI think you are! (growing in resilience)
ReplyDeleteGood for you, it's not always easy to change, especially when you've done it one way and that worked for you.
PS - I ordered the book from yesterday - By Grace alone. I'll let you know my thoughts when I finish it.
Thank you for your words of encouragement, Mari. I have to say that I was a bit anxious about making the first batch of jam with honey, but when I saw how well it turned out, I was all in! :)
DeleteI hope you will enjoy the book, my friend. I'm pretty sure you will. And speaking of books...my Study Guide came for the Piper book today. Looking forward to digging into it this evening.
The study guide is helpful. Our leader has one and uses it to direct our discussion.
DeleteI have started using the Study Guide and it really is good, but so was the book. Going back through and rereading it as I work my way through the study guide will help cement some things for me. I do have to say that I can understand how it would be a beneficial weekly study as opposed to once a month.
DeleteDid the jam with honey taste the same as the jam with sugar? Sounds they set up similarly.
ReplyDeleteNo, Barbara, it doesn't taste the same. You are using 1/2 cup honey per recipe as opposed to 6-7 cups of sugar per recipe, so the sweetness isn't as strong. With using the honey, you actually taste more of the fruit than you do with the sugar. They set up exactly the same. With the honey, there's a pouch of calcium powder in the box with the pectin. You measure out the calcium powder according to directions and mix it with water. It's the calcium that causes the jam to set. Carroll's whole reason for asking me to try the honey is because we are trying to get away from all the sweetness, especially when it's created by sugar.
DeleteAll the jams sound great.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bill.
DeleteHow nice to make and have all those different kinds of jams. That is something I've never done - made jam.
ReplyDeleteKaren, it's just been in recent years that I have started making jams and jellies. Now it's one of my favorite things to make. Carroll enjoys growing different fruits so I try to make good use of them.
DeleteI am so late with my comments today....Your jam really looks good...Sam loves jelly and jams of all kinds and I think he might would do better with it being made with honey...He has had to really watch his sugar intake. This is so smart of you to get this all done and put away. I'm guessing your kitchen smells pretty sweet right now.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Friend, for your kind words. I enjoy jam and jelly making much more in the cold winter months. It warms up the kitchen and yes, it does smell sweet around here on the days I make jam.
Delete