That’s  a line in the song from a TV movie Alice in Wonderland that filled my childhood. I don’t mean I watched it all the time, although we did have it on tape, but anyone my age can probably quote a song or scene from it. Here’s a link to what I’m talking about and I’m very excited to find a video clip for your viewing pleasure! I haven’t heard this song in years! All the better for you to understand what song was in my head as I mixed and mixed the jam for hours!

With the blackberries I picked last week I decided to try my hand at making jam and it worked!

I washed and weighed the blackberries, then added them to a large pot. I added the same amount of sugar into the pot, which seemed like it was too much and made me nervous that the jam would just taste like sugar! Then, I cut up two large cooking apples (good old British Bramleys in this case) and added it to the pot. Apples have enough pectin to skip purchasing any. I wasn’t sure how many apples I’d need and the two bramleys were just under the same amount of fruit. Probably about 3/4 the weight of the blackberries. This is what it looked like when I started.

I kept the pot on a very low heat, stirring quite a bit at the beginning. Soon, it looked like the photo below. I found it amusing that the blackberries had dyed the apple to look like mini watermelons!

At this point I put the lid on and came back to stir it every 10 minutes. It seemed more like fruit soup. Once the apples seemed soft enough, I smashed everything with a potato masher. With an even consistency, I began to see its jam potential. I left the lid off and went to check on it every so often (I really don’t know because we were watching a movie) and give it a stir. The heat was the lowest it could be and still count as on.

When it seemed thicker a few hours later (1 and a half? 2?), I took a tiny spoon, scooped a bit out and waited to see if it would set by sticking it in the fridge. This is the fun part- if you’re impatient like me, you’ll test it often and get to eat the ‘failed research’! Once it seemed hard enough I warmed up the jar with very hot water for a bit to make sure it wouldn’t crack when I poured the hot jam in. Once it was in, I set the jar on the counter covered with a tea towel/dish-towel overnight to cool. In the morning, I had blackberry jam! No sugar or apple flavour! Next time I make jam with sweet fruit, I’ll cut down on the sugar to see how much I can get away with. I’m already thinking about making apple jam since “apple jelly” is a flavour I just can’t get here!

Refashioning an old refashion

When my mom was pregnant with me 29 years ago, she had a pair of red plaid flannel pajamas. At some point in my very early childhood, she took the legs of those pajamas and made two scarves: one for my dad and one for me. This has always been one of my favourite scarves but unless it’s tucked into my sweater or coat, I’m afraid to run riot with it around my neck for fear that it would fall off. This summer when I was over in the U.S. visiting my parents, my dad gave me his half.  I sewed them together at one end and now have the best scarf ever! I wore it while frolicking at a castle yesterday, so I know its safe when wrapped!