Triple Berry Jam

Summer is not my favorite season.

It’s barely tolerable, in my honest opinion. This shouldn’t surprise anyone really… I like living in Maine because, most of the time, it’s not hot.

But part of what makes summer okay is the crazy amounts of berries that grow around our area. So far this year we’ve harvested strawberries from a farm in Monticello, raspberries from an abandoned property here in our town,  and blueberries from DownEast. Now, the last of the berries are finally coming in.

Blackberries.

Sweet, tart, tangy, juicy blackberries. There’s an old place in town that burnt a few years back, and out behind the old chicken condominium is a fairly large patch of blackberries. There is also another good size patch behind my husband’s office.  Nothing tastes better then free food. But more on that in another post.

So, you’d think that we’d let them all come in before we start picking, but no sir. Because we have a jam recipe that only needs one cup of blackberries.

Our triple berry jam.

It’s pretty simple. It’s half blueberry, quarter strawberry and quarter blackberry. And its delicious.

So get your jamming and canning equipment out and follow along.

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed blueberries
• 1 cup crushed strawberries
• 1 cup crushed blackberries
• 1 packet of Certo opened and standing upright in a cup
• 6 cups of sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

This is one of those times I bring out my handy immersion blender. I like to really break down the berries so the taste is consistent.

Once you have your berries blended, throw them, your lemon juice and sugar into your jamming pot. On a high heat, while stirring constantly, get it boiling. Add in your single pack of Certo. Get it back to boiling and set a timer for 1 minute. Keep stirring until the timer goes off.

Process the jam into your jars. Get them into your awaiting canner, and let them go for 10 minutes.

A tasty way to get some extra omegas in your diet would be to add a 1/4 cup chia seeds in with the berries. It also makes for a slightly thicker jam because of the seeds gelling properties.

Well, there she is, in all its delicious glory. I use the same ratios of berries to make a pie. But that’s another time.

I already know what’s coming next. It’s going to be a long one because tomorrow is Machias’ annual Blueberry Festival!

Pretty exciting…. so until then, have a wicked good afternoon.