My Jam Berry Party

Most people that know me,

know that I adore canning.

I love the entire process...

the smell of the fresh berries,

the heat of the berries cooking,

the sweet sugar,

and then the best part...

the pop-pop-pop of the jars sealing themselves.

When I hear that sound,

I know that summer has been saved and

people will be enjoying a little bit of summer 

on any day of the year.

There's a very simple joy in the process.

I also love that I know everything that is in those jars.

I know the farms that grew the berries,

I know the amount of sugar,

and I know that it's been made with all the love that I can squish in there.

Also, I know that with each jar

not only are people enjoying the goodness of homemade jam,

but they are doing something very good.

You see, I don't jam to make money...

nope...not at all.

I jam to raise money for my heart projects.

All of the profits go to help animals.

Often the money goes directly to Fences For Fido

to help us unchain dogs around Oregon and SW Washington,

other times it goes to a need that I see in the community like

Oregon Humane Society, Strut Your Mutt, or P.A.W.S.

Currently, I'm saving money to help stray dogs get medical help and their forever homes.

This is a big goal,

but I'm hopeful that all of this jam will make the difference 

in lives of precious souls that I don't even know yet!

Have I tempted your heart and tummy yet?!

Well, if not, maybe this list of jam flavors will.

• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Blueberry-Lime
• Blackberry
• Prickleberry (Raspberry and Blackberry)
• Triple Berry (Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry)
• Berry Field (Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, and Blackberry)
• Peach
• Blushing Peach (Peach with a kiss of wild blackberries)
• Peach Pie (A taste of peach pie in each bite!)
• Vanilla Maple Bourbon Peach
• Peach Bellini (Peach with Champagne)
• Apricot
• Cherry
• Pear-Cardamom

I make a variety of sizes of jam, but each flavor has a very limited amount of sizes available. 

It is really first come, first serve.

I only make jams at the peak of freshness, so that limits the supply greatly. 

If there is something that you would like,

don't hesitate to have me hold them for you. 

I'm happy to do that. :)

4 ounce = $2.00 (extremely limited!)

8 ounce = $4.00 (most popular size)

12 ounce = $6.00 (limited)

16 ounce = $8.00 (limited)

Bruce Degen - Jamberry Poem & Berry Jam Recipe

Amazon link

"One berry, two berry, pick me a Blueberry !"
"Hatberry, Shoeberry in my Canoeberry;"
"Under the bridge and over the dam,"
"Looking for Berries - Berries for Jam !"

"Three berry, four berry, Hayberry, Strawberry -"
"Finger and Pawberry, My Berry, Your Berry;"
'Strawberry Ponies and Strawberry Lambs,"
'Dancing in meadows of Strawberry Jam !"

"Quickberry ! Quackberry ! Pick me a Blackberry !"
"Trainberry, Trackberry, Clickety-Clackberry;"
"Rumble and Ramble in Blackberry Bramble,"
"Billions of Berries for Blackberry Jamble !"

"Raspberry, Jazzberry, Razza-matazz-berry !"
"Berryband, Merryband, Jamming in Berryland..."
"Raspberry Rabbits and Brassberry Band,"
"Elephants skating on Raspberry Jam !"

"Moonberry, Starberry, Cloudberry Sky - "
"Boomberry, Zoomberry, Rockets shoot by !'
"Mountains and Fountains rain down on me,"
"Buried in Berries, what a Jam Jamboree !"
Bruce Degan, 1983

Happy Jam Berry enjoyment to YOU!

Spicy Peach Jam

www.sandhillsfarmersmarket.com

Growing up with a peach orchard next door,
I was spoiled with eating peaches straight from the tree.
We would fight the bees for the very best ones
and it was totally worth it. :)

This jam is a favorite of anyone who tries it.
There is something special about opening a jar and smelling summer...
especially on a cold and rainy day in Oregon.
It reminds us that we endure the rain,
so that our trees can produce these little golden beauties.
And we always endure.
Of course, the jam definitely helps keep our spirits high.

skinnyms.com

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped or coarsely ground pitted peaches

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 box of pectin

6 cups sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare peaches:  Peel the peaches or use a quick water bath to remove the skins. Then remove the pits and chop peaches into small chunks or run it through a food processor.  Just be careful...Only pulse a few times or until you get the consistency that you like.  I prefer to have a little fruit texture in my jam.

2. Measure 4 cups of peaches, add one box of pectin and a teaspoon of vegan margarine.

3. Bring the mixture to a hard boil, stirring continually.

4. Add pre-measured sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

5. Boil mixture for 2 minute, continuing to stir constantly.

6. Remove from the heat and skim off the foam.

7. Add the spices and stir to combine.

8. Pour into sterilized jars and prepare according to National Center for Home Food Preservation.

9. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of your jars.
Yield: approx. 6 cups.

Capturing Summer

I don't garden myself.

I've tried and had success and failure.

Hardening is not my joy, the products of the garden are.

I love the food it produces and wish that I enjoyed it, but that's not going to happen.

I'm just sticking to what I enjoy, 

producing a beautiful and tasty product from the hard work of others! Ha!

I love to can.

I love everything about the process.

And it truly is a process.

For some (many) it seems monotonous,

But it's not to me.

I love looking at the beautiful jars lined up on my table.

I love the magical "pop" that tells you it's sealed correctly.

Pop, pop, pop!

That music to my ears.

I love the color or the fruit or vegetable.

I don't even really like beats, but they are one of my favorite foods to pickle.

The color is so vibrant and natural.

If someone can't appreciate nature and it's stunning beauty,

then none of this makes any sense.

Seriously, look at how pretty these are!

Canning creates a beautiful product,

and captures a little bit of summer for later.

I love opening a jar in the middle of winter and smelling the fresh berries.

For that moment it's not raining, or chilly,

it's summer again.

How fabulous is that?!

I've been canning like crazy.

So far I've canned the following jams;

Strawberry

Raspberry

Marionberry

Boysenberry

Triple Berry (raspberry, marionberry, boysenberry)

Blackberry

Blueberry-Lime

Apple Butter

Flavors that are coming soon;

Spicy Plum

Peach

Huckleberry

Pear

Cherry

Man, that's a lot of jam!

But mostly it's a lot of summer captured for use later.

And that makes me really happy. 

Happy Canning,

Lori

Spicy Plum-Pear Jam

 

Plums...tasty summer time treat or a nuisance collecting wasps?

Growing up we had a plum tree by the barn.

And each summer I would try to avoid that path

because the wasps would be swarming the area. 

Plums would be scattered around the ground,

and the bees would be having a summertime sugar party.

 

But I have heard that plums have other purposes...other than wasp collecting.

So to help change my mind about plums and their uses, I decided to give them another try.

And what always seems to work out well for fruit in my world?

Jam.

Beautiful sweet, loving jam.

And plums definitely added a new delicious texture to my jamming.

 

Spicy Plum-Pear Jam

Recipe modified from Taste of Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped or coarsely ground pitted plums

1 cup chopped or coarsely ground peeled pears

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pouch of liquid pectin

5-1/2 cups sugar

 

Directions:

1. Prepare plums and pears:  Place plums and pears in a large stock pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it reaches a hard boil, let it boil for 5 minutes.

2. After fruit is prepared, stir in sugar and bring the mixture to a hard boil again.

3. Add liquid pectin, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

4. Boil mixture for 1 minute, continuing to stir constantly.

5. Remove from the heat and skim off the foam.

6. Add the cinnamon and stir.
 

7. Pour into sterilized jars and prepare according to National Center for Home Food Preservation.

8. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Yield: 6 cups.

Now, I know that I said that I don't like plums, 

but this jam definitely changes my mind about them.  

Even for someone like me, this jam is delicious.

So go ahead and ask your neighbor if you can pluck a few plums from their tree

and give this recipe a try...you'll find it just as tasty as I did.

Snowball in June

You remember these, don't you?
Ah, the snowball.
As a kid you probably snuck one into the grocery cart and hoped that your mom wouldn't notice it until after checkout.
Or you had them when a parent brought in treats for a classmates' birthday.
Either way, though as an adult you wouldn't admit that they're delicious...they are delicious!

But it's not going to make the adult palette happy in the little plastic wrapper, so I figure that it needs to be made much, much bigger.  Since this is an adult cake, I'm also changing up the classic chocolate center to a sweet little champagne cake.

A Happy Snowball Cake!

To make this happen I combined two different recipes from two of my favorite cookbooks; Vintage Cakes, and The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.

Champagne Cake
Slightly Adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup canola oil (I only had vegetable oil- totally fine)
1 cup dry sparkling wine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Sift flours, baking powder, and salt- I sift twice to make it extra smooth.
2. In a stand mixture, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for one minute.
3. Slow the mixer to low and add the oil, pouring down the side of the mixer until it's well blended.
4. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, with the wine in 2 parts.  Make sure you scrape the sides between each addition.
5. Be careful not to over mix it!
6. Divide batter into two pans that are greased and lined with parchment paper on the bottom.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  My oven baked this cake much faster, so I suggest checking it at 25 minutes.
8.  Cool cakes in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove and let them completely cool.

Frosting and Filling:
Buttercream, Triple Berry Buttercream
slightly adapted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Makes about 6 cups
1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
6-7 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 milk (I used whole milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract



Berry Jam- I used my new favorite homemade triple berry jam- made by ME :0)
3 cups Coconut- tinted pink or whatever color you would like!

Making the Buttercream:
1. Cream butter on medium speed in a stand mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy and light.
2. Slow the mixture to low speed and add 4 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Mix until creamy.
3. Add 3 more cups of sugar and combine until smooth and creamy- about 3-5 minutes.
4. Divide frosting into thirds.  In 2/3 of the frosting add 4 oz. of jam- mix well and adjust to taste. This will be used as the filling.

Constructing the cake:
1. Trim the edges of the cake to the size that you want.  I like to take the outer edge off before putting the cake together. 
2. Slice each cake into two halves.
3. Place one half on your serving plate, then add a layer of berry buttercream.  Turn one cake top over, and then add another layer of berry buttercream. Continue this process, then use the top dome to finish the stack.
4. Place the cakes into the refrigerator for a half an hour.

5. Remove cake from the refrigerator and use some of the buttercream to lightly ice the cake. 
This will help to stabilize the layers.
6. Place cake into the refrigerator again for a half an hour.

7. Remove the cake, and add the final layer of buttercream icing.  Don't worry about being to smooth...you're adding the tinted coconut around the entire cake.
8.  Take the coconut and press it into the icing until in is completely covered.  Beautiful!



Now if this isn't a fun way to have a snowball in June, then I don't know what is!  All you need now is an amazing group of friends to enjoy this cake with.  Lucky for me, I do.

Happy Baking!
Lori