It's that easy?!

I don’t make everything from scratch, despite that my husband teases me that I’m like Martha Stewart. I do make some things from scratch: Last week I made taco seasoning mix, to me it just seems wasteful to buy another spice when I have all the necessary ingredients in my pantry already. I also made marshmallows, a la Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, I thought the kids would get a kick out of them, but they weren’t as excited as I thought they’d be. I may make them again, to go with my homemade cocoa mix around the holidays (cute hostess and client gifts), but I won’t make them for my family until my daughter Grace is old enough, but still young enough (I may have missed the boat with the boys, they’re too old) to enjoy them.

I’ve always been intimidated by jams and jellies and canning, but canning seems like such a great idea when you make a large batch of something that you only eat in small bits. So, last week I made blueberry jam and canned (jarred, actually) it. I could not believe how easy it was!

I used a recipe from Martha Stewart's Kids magazine (May/June 2004) which had been kicking around the house.

Basic Blueberry Jam

4 c blueberries
3½ c sugar

Preheat oven to 250°. Put a plate in the freezer. With a potato masher or spoon, crush 1 cup of blueberries in a medium heavy-bottom nonreactive saucepan.

Add remaining 3 cups blueberries and ½ cup water; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to break up berries, until berries are soft, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread sugar on a rimmed baking sheet. Heat in oven until warm, about 5 minutes.

Slowly stir sugar into saucepan; return mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook at a slow boil until thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. To test for doneness, drop a small amount of jam onto the chilled plate; it should wrinkle when pressed with your finger. Refrigerate jam in an airtight container up to 2 weeks, or can in sealed, sterilized jars up to 6 months.

To can the jam, pour warm jam into warm jars (you can boil the jars or run them through the dishwasher). Wipe the rims of the jars with a dishtowel or paper towel. Place lids on jars and hand-tighten them. Place filled jars on the rack of a pressure cooker. Process according to the pressure cooker's directions (for mine, I fill the pressure cooker with enough water to cover the jars, bring the cooker to full pressure for 10 minutes, and then let cool until pressure is released). If you don’t have a pressure cooker, there are several sites that can help you get started canning, try www.canningusa.com, Canning 101, homecanning.com and Home canning at about.com. Let the jars rest for 24 hours, and remove the rings to be sure the lids are still in place (nudge them gently with your finger to make sure they don’t move). If they do move, you can re-process them. If they don't move, you’re good to go, label your jam, and store it in a cool, dry place.

It really is easy! Give it a try. Next up, I’ll be doing my New York-style hot dog onions and that killer barbecue sauce.