Jammin'

I just finished my 7th batch of jam. Blueberries were a bust last year, and we were very glad I had frozen and jammed copious amounts the preceeding year. This is another stock up year. Here are recipes of what I've made so far:


Rhubarb Medley
4 cups Rhubarb
1 cup blueberry (frozen from last year)
1 cup strawberries (thanks to Costco)
4 cups sugar
1 box sure-jell pectin







Triple Rhu
2 cups Rhubarb
2 cups blueberries
2 cups strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 box  sure-jell pectin





I also made a lot of spruce tip jelly, which I had never tasted before. We absolutely LOVE it! It'd also be great with apple and cinnamon in it. I plan on drying extra crab apples this fall to save for next spring's spruce jelly. To make the jelly you need to make juice.

Gather about 18 cups of tips when they are bright green and soft. If you wait until they've opened the picking goes much faster and I couldn't tell a difference in flavor. Put the tips in a large pot, add water until it's just below the tips, cover, and boil. I followed one recipe that required 1 hour of boiling and 3 hours of simmering. I couldn't tell a difference between that and the batch I just simmered for an hour. Do what you want! Once you've boiled to your heart's content, strain through a sieve and you have spruce juice. 18 cups of tips makes enough for two batches of jam.

Spruce Tip Jelly - yields 3 pints
3 cups spruce juice*
4 cups sugar
1 box sure-jell pectin

Spruce Tip Honey Jelly -yields 2 pints
3 cups spruce juice
1/3 cup apple juice
1 cup honey
3 tablespoons no/low-sugar pectin