I am not a domestic goodness. In fact, I don’t even feel like an adult. I feel like a big kid who’s playing house and even has a baby doll to dress up. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) my sheer tiredness and aches and pains prove to me every day that this is real life and not a game. Some things still feel like a game though. Probably because they are new and interesting, such a far cry from life in the city.
We have lots of fruit trees in the garden; red & orange raspberries, cherries, loganberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, apples, 4 different types of grapes, peaches, wild strawberries, walnuts (or brain nuts as Mr Piglet calls them) and mures (which I don’t know what this is in English and Google translate hasn’t been very helpful). Some of our French family pointed out that we had so much fruit we should make jam. We’d never made jam before.
As a fan of kitchen gadgets and always on the look out for ways to save time, I’d already spotted that my bread machine could make jam as well, so there would be no standing slaving over a pot for me. I made the most of having guests and quickly managed to organize a competition to get the fruit picking done. Perfect after dinner exercise with ice creams as the prize!
Mr Piglet and I spent the rest of the evening washing & weighing fruit and sterilizing jam jars. We ended up with 2 jars of loganberry, 4 of raspberry, 5 of blackcurrant and 4 of redcurrant. Proud of our accomplishments I quickly sent an email off to my parents bragging of our new domestic goddess status.
Next morning, my Mum had replied asking how we had set the jam. “Set the Jam?” I had no idea!
I quickly ran downstairs (it was 5am in the morning) and looked at a jar of blackburrant jam. It wasn’t jam, it was coulis – it hadn’t set!
Gah! What a nightmare, “what had we done wrong” I wondered? Why didn’t they mention this setting business in the jam recipe in the bread machine book? So much for saving time with shortcuts.
Thankfully most of the other fruits had set which was lucky, so when Mr Piglet woke up we started the process again and thanks to some Twitter research, we reboiled the jam with more lemon juice and this time round tested for setting point. It worked!
So we now have our own jam enterprise with plenty more fruit on the trees but no more jam jars. I now have a valid reason to hoard jam jars.
Ooh lucky you to have so many fruit trees and bushes!
I made some marmalade back in Feb and it was quite tricky testing the setting point. Not that it needed to set much as my dearly beloved ate it out of the jam jar by the spoonful.
ha ha! I wish I could eat jam out the jam jar! I think we messed up the setting point on some, I’ve had some this morning and it’s a bit runny!
That’s not a garden, that’s a forest! Wow, how lovely to have such space. I often dream of such a big garden, but I’m not sure this city girl could handle it. Baby Piglet is very lucky!
You know I love baking but I’ve never made jam. My brother-in-law’s mother makes the most divine jam I’ve ever had, and it’s always seasonal fruit and like you, she gets the fruit from her country garden. Delish! Do you like lemon curd? It is my mother’s favourite thing but I grew up disliking it with a passion. I then made my own, and realised the difference. Now I’m addicted.
Blackcurrant jam is by far my favourite so I will be testing out your method, albeit with market-bought produce. Keep up this Domestic Goddess lifestyle, it suits you!
We have a forest too 🙂 (or as my Dad pointed out, a copse) but I haven’t walked there yet, too scared of the creepy crawlies in the long grass in the field (and a lack of suitable footwear).
I’ve only ever tried lemon curd once and wasn’t a fan so maybe I should try making my own as well!
We may have to start calling you Nigella soon!
Happy to see you up and about 🙂
And I don’t feel like an adult either! x
I think I’m a long, long way from Nigella status 🙂
This is *terrific*! Wow. I am way impressed, Piglet, honestly. Canning jam with a wee one in the house is no small feat! I’m so happy for you that you have this bounty! Kudos on the jam enterprise (I’ll take some for Christmas thankyouverymuch, lol! 😉 Just kidding… kinda, lol).
BTW, I am pretty sure a mûre is a mulberry, isn’t it? Check this out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_(plant) Are you dancing around the mulberry bush yet? 🙂
its super easy with a bread machine, just plop it in and go and relax!
Fantastic, what a great way to make jam. Iheard about using the bread-maker. I am a bit of a traditionalist and like to make it on the stove. My mother puts walnuts in her jams. What a beautiful garden you have. Lucky,lucky you
I have never made it on the stove, I will try one day so to taste the difference. Maybe once Baby Piglet is a bit less demanding so that I have time to stir it 🙂
We have walnuts in the garden too so I’ll have to try this also!
Well done for finding a valid reason to hoard jars – I have a fantastic collection here too (which I do refill with jams and chutneys).
My collection is growing as now people keep bringing me lots of jars 🙂 Now I just need to find somewhere to stock them!
OH WOW! How wonderful! I am jealous … do you have a fig tree? We have to come up soon! Flash freeze the excess fruit or make smoothies … how lovely!
No figs 😦 We’ve started freezing as hadn’t thought of smoothies… yummy! I’ll bring you some jam when we come.
PiP,
Is that your backyard in the photo? It’s just awesome! I want a yard so bad I can feel the dirt in my nails and hear the leaves rustling. As for feeling like a kid…I’m not even certain of my age and I don’t care to find out. I hope your jam is as sweet as you are.
Thanks for your kind comment 🙂 Yes, that’s my garden – we’re still working out how we’re going to care for it!
Glad it worked out!!!!
thanks 🙂
Oh if only I could have a jar of that homemade jam .. To think, when I was a child in North Carolina, my grandmother would send me out to help my cousin pick blackberries. All I ever got was chigger bites and some blackberry cobbler for dessert .. I should have grown up in France 🙂
I wish I could send you a jar but I don’t think it would survive the journey!
Ahhhh love jam. I really want to try some xx
I’m sure they’ll be some left still when we finally get to meet 🙂 Any comps planned this way soon?
mures=blackberries
Thank you! I am totally confused with my red fruit names now.
Glad you were able to save the jam. Enjoy
Thanks! It does taste very nice 🙂
I have done that!
🙂
Gosh, I thought my French garden was big, but it’s tiny in comparison! We only have apples (our damson tree having just blown down :-)) and I SO envy you all your fruit, as I love jam-making. Well done on doing it with a small baby in the house.
We never set out to have such a big garden, it just came with the house. To be honest we’re kind of wondering what to do with it right now.
We have apple trees too but no ladder to pick them with!
I’d only ever grown strawberries before so it’s going to be a steep learning curve for us.