Blueberries & Grapefruit - Jam in July!

My BIL visited us today and it seemed like the perfect time to pick some fresh berries from nearby Lockbriar Farms. Although the raspberries were picked out, there were blueberries, blackberries and peaches galore. Undaunted by the 98 degree heat, we spent an hour gathering the freshest fruit we could find, with the exception of peaches. The local insect life chased us out of the orchard before we could find anything ripe. The results:

I'm always looking for new ways to use fresh berries - living near "u-pick" berry farms is one of my favorite things about this rural adventure - and this week I turned to the folks at Brooklyn Supper to find a recipe for Blueberry-Grapefruit Jam. This was my first experience with jam making and I confess to a bit of nerves. The first step was combining berries, sugar and grapefruit zest (not cheese despite the picture below).

While the berries cooked I supremed a grapefruit (another first), which I eventually added to the berry mix.


The recipe called for powdered pectin, which I couldn't find so I tried Ball liquid pectin and estimated the volume I added to the jam.

The most tedious part of the jam making was waiting for the water to boil in my canning pot, but once it got started I added the jam jars and let them process for ten minutes. (I actually forgot one lonely jar that had to be added in a little late.)

Finally, three hours in, jam is bottled, labeled and ready for gifting!