I am an author, blogger, and I love to cook as the Reinvention Queen but my best title is Mom. My daughter Missy, who you will see in our first, totally shooting from the hip video, joins me in the kitchen. She brought blackberries which grow naturally in her back yard and Georgia peaches grown by her aunt and uncle and we furnished some fresh strawberries from our local produce stand. I have some herbs and we wanted to share how to take homemade jams to a new level incorporating some Thai Basil, Pineapple Mint, and Fresh Ginger.

Missy arrives with a special surprise, her own garden tomato, fresh off the vine.

THESE WILD GEORGIA BLACKBERRIES GROW AT MISSY'S HOME

JAMMIN' JAMS RECIPES

BLACKBERRY GINGER JAM

6 cups Fruit (Blackberries for the first recipe)

2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

4 Tbs. Freshly squeezed Lemon juice

1/8 cup thinly sliced ginger (other recipes will use different herbs)

1 pkg Sure Jell (note: if fruit is very juicy, increase Sure Jell by 1/2 pkg.) If fruit is not juicy add the desired water as instructed on pkg.

*Our fruit was so juicy that we didn't add the water to the Sure Jell and poured directly into fruit mixture.

STRAWBERRY AND PEACHES BASIL JAM

4 CUPS (2 CUPS EACH CHOPPED STRAWBERRIES AND PEACHES)

2 CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR

2 SPRIGS OF GARDEN THAI BASIL (LAY THE SPRIGS ON TOP AND REMOVE BEFORE ADDING SUREJELL

4 TBSP. FRESHLY SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE

1 1/2 PKGS SURE JELL (PEACHES WERE SO JUICY, WE DIDN'T ADD ANY WATER TO SUREJELL.

ALL FRUIT JAM (BLACKBERRIES, PEACHES, AND STRAWBERRIES)

8 CUPS OF COMBINED FRUITS (2 CUPS STRAWBERRIES, 2 CUPS PEACHES, AND 4 CUPS BLACKBERRIES

3 CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR

4 TBS. FRESHLY SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE

2 SPRIGS OF PINEAPPLE MINT (LAY MINT ON TOP AND REMOVE WHEN MIXTURE IS READY BUT BEFORE SURE JELL ADDITION

2 PKGS. SURE JELL WITH NO WATER ADDED.

SURE JELL IS A SURE FIRE WAY TO SET THE JAM'S CONSISTENCY

MISSY MAKES PEELING GINGER A SNAP AND THEN SLICES IT.

Missy's tip of how to quickly peel ginger: Cut off one end of the root and use the spoon tip and scrape down the side of the root. Easy Peasy.

General notes: We cooked one jam at a time using the ingredients listed for each one. In the video, we don't go through each step but here is how we prepared the fruit mixture, added surejell, cooking and cooling times and the jars and lids prep. Here is how we did each one and all that was different were the ingredients:

  • Washed, inspected, cut off bad spots or pulled off any debris or stems, washed fruits and placed in colanders to drain. Chopped into small pieces.
  • Placed in heavy sauce pan the fruit mixture, the sugar, lemon juice, and selected herbs for each type of jam.
  • Medium high heat until fruit is soft (we used potato masher to break down the fruit) Usually 7 minutes but watch and stir to make sure fruit doesn't stick to bottom.
  • Add Sure Jell to mixture and cook for at least 3 minutes until the fruit liquid becomes thicker.
  • Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.
  • While this is cooking, place your canning jars into a large pot, with water about the height of half the jar's height with lids/rings around the bottom and in between the jars where there is space. Allow jars to get steamy hot. Remove and place on surface (we placed on large cutting board or you can place on towels)
  • When fruit mixture has cooled, place into jars using wide neck funnel, and place lids/rings on jars making sure seal is dry and clean, the same on the lip of the jar to avoid the jars not making a complete seal. Replace jars in the pot of hot water to seal them. You should hear them pop when they have sealed and you can press on them and no movement.
  • Remove and wipe the jars clean. You now have jam which will set with time. You can store in cabinet until you open and break seal but then you should refrigerate them.

This is our All Fruit Jam made with peaches, blackberries & strawberries flavored with Pineapple mint.

Stirring is part of the secret so Spurtles are a handy tool.

We had a blast with fun and laughter and we keep it real for you. We splattered, and washed enough bowls, colanders, and pots but loved seeing the beautiful, delicious results in our cute canning jars. What we like about our jam session is we winged it. Not any formal recipe, deciding the fruit combos with the herbs. Nothing is ever set in stone and use your creativity and go for your favorites. If you like sweet tastes, use more sugar. If you aren't crazy about a specific herb, try another one or leave them out. The key is to experiment and don't necessarily cook it like we do.....Make it your own! We certainly do our own thing and want others to do the same.

Until We Cook Again........Happy Meals To You...... Reinvention Queen with Missy too!

(C) Copyright 2012-2021 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration with all rights and privileges reserved. Third Party Material is sourced, if known to original location/author for credit references.

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