Many years ago I watched a program called Frontier House on PBS. It was kind of a life-changing show for me. My mother had been diagnosed with cancer only a few years before and my father was just through his own cancer journey. We were smack dab in the middle of learning what happened to our food supply in the 20th century, how it affects our health and I was disillusioned about most of it. Frontier House allowed me to go back to a time where food was simple and life was hard. Hard, in a different way than what we were experiencing, but still hard.
It would be years before I would embrace the food paradigm (loosely Weston A. Price Foundation based) I hold now so watching one of the wives on Frontier House make jam with nothing but berries was quite a novel concept for me. What? No pectin? How does that work? it became yet another cog in my wheel of understanding that we add too many unnecessary ingredients to our foods.
Since then I’ve learned to strip things bare. I’ve learned to cook for weeks at a time with a limited number of ingredients and make palatable food. I’ve learned to know where my food comes from and build relationships with those that grow it and raise it. Even if you live smack dab in the middle of the city there are options you may have never considered. I urge you to search them out. Think outside the box. Do the unexpected and reap the benefits of improved health by it.
This recipe is so simple and can be adapted to most any fruit. Fruits, even when in season, vary greatly in their sweetness and acidity. You will need to taste test to keep the flavor within your preference. Strawberries will take much less sugar than red raspberries, and blueberries will coagulate more than grapes. I honestly don’t know all the science behind this but I’ve learned from experience and you will too if you have the time to experiment a few times. It’s quite fun and it’s fruit. You can hardly go wrong. If nothing else, you can top your yogurt with it!
Here’s the process I used for this jam. I used red raspberries from my garden and figs from my sister’s garden. It’s easy to adapt it to any quantity too as long as you’re willing to stand by the stove stirring it while it thickens. More fruit = more stirring.
I used about 4 cups of red raspberries and 1 cup of figs (chopped).
Blend that with about 1/2 cup of raw sugar. You can always add more after you taste it. You can add a little lemon juice if it’s too sweet.
Let the fruit and sugar sit for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will bring out some of the liquid.
Pour into a skillet that the fruit will cover the bottom and come up the sides about 2 inches. Turn the heat to medium.
Here you will keep stirring occasionally until the fruit comes to a boil. Turn it down and allow it to simmer.
Simmer until the fruit is reduced by half, stirring very often and almost continuously near the end. You will begin to feel it getting thicker and it will coat the spoon. Taste it and adjust it as needed. Adding more sugar or lemon juice will make the jam a little more loose but just keep cooking it. It’s ready when the fruit is completely broken down, the jam is no longer juicy but thick and sticky.
The next step is to find some pretty jars, fill them, close them tightly (cool them completely first) and keep in the refrigerator.
I kept mine in the fridge for well over 3 months and they were great.