Raspberry Jam

Hey, all two people who have ever read my blog!  It's time to start preserving again!  My garden is looking quite amazing this year, if I do say so.  I have potatoes, several types of tomatoes and peppers, beans, zucchini, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, hops, onions, lettuce, and various herbs.  I had strawberries earlier in the year.

But for the past week, I've been preserving raspberries.  My mom's friend went out of town and told me to go over to her house and pick as many raspberries as I wanted.  I ended up picking close to two gallons of berries!

I've never preserved raspberries before, so I was very excited to try new recipes. 

The first recipe I made was raspberry jam from Get Started Preserving, which is a book I absolutely love and recommend to both beginners and seasoned preservers, as it has an overview of everything from canning to making butter.

Making the raspberry jam was no different from any other jam I've made, but I had a heck of a time trying to get it to set.  The first batch didn't set, and I processed it anyway.  The raspberry sauce (as we're calling it) is fantastic on ice cream!  We're also making pork tonight, and using the raspberry sauce instead of our usual cranberry sauce.

The second batch of jam also wouldn't set, but I gave it a second try, and it did end up with a softer set than I'd like, but at least it set.  I don't know if the berries were overripe or what, because I've never had so much trouble getting a jam to set!

Next time:  Raspberry Red Wine Vinegar!

Lemon Curd

I made lemon curd a few months ago, and it was such a success that I decided to make two more batches!  I got this recipe out of the Get Started Preserving book.  It's a fantastic resource, and like my other canning books, I highly recommend it.

Lemon curd is made with lemons, butter, sugar, and eggs.  First you grate the lemon peel and then slice and juice the lemon.

All of the ingredients (minus the eggs) get heated up until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted.

That gets added to a double boiler, and then the eggs (which have been scrambled) get strained into it to prevent curdling.

After a while, it all thickens, gets poured into jars, and processed for five minutes.  Ta da!

We've been eating it on these Italian lemon waffle cookies.  It's so good!