This is my post for #freewriters Friday prompt awareness hosted by @mariannewest
Tuesday when we went to the cheap store they had boxes of blueberries for 59 cents. I bought a box to make jam. I got home and found that I did not have enough sugar to make it and did not want to go back out to get it.
The produce that we buy there is already old and you have to pick the bad ones out but I figured they would be ok for another day.
Wednesday while running errands with my husband I told him that on the way home to stop at Dollar General so I could get sugar. The only sugar that they had was in one-pound bags and they wanted 2 dollars for a bag. My husband flipped out on the price, then tells me if I want it to go ahead and pay that price. I knew that I would never hear the end of it so I did not get the sugar. The blueberries will need to wait another day.
I had a dr appointment in the afternoon so I wanted to run to the store in the morning and make the jam before the appointment, that was the plan. My son called and needed me to pick him up and run errands for him. By the time I finished with him, I did not have time to buy sugar. I can hear my blueberries rotting.
After seeing the doctor, I went to the store and bought the sugar, I got 10 pounds of it. But by the time I got home, it was too late to make it. I think more are rotting.
I get up this morning and start getting things ready to make the jam and my husband comes in and says, I need you to take me to the parts store. He was putting new brake shoes on his truck and he refuses to drive mine. So the blueberries are having to wait. I am thinking that they will all be no good.
I can now make my jam and after picking the bad ones out I had just enough for a small batch.
My husband had put half of the blueberries in the freezer and I don't know if he was aware of my awareness of them. But when I asked if I could have some of them for my jam, you would have thought that I asked him to cut his right arm off. So I made do with what I had.
I use my roasting pan to boil my jars and keep them hot until time for the jam.
I had 6 cups of blueberries, I put 4 and 1/2 cups in the pot and mashed them over medium heat. I added 4 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the rest of the berries, I did not mash them.
I brought it to a roiling boil, this is when you stir, it does not stop boiling. I am not a fan of pectin but I am starting to be one. I put one pouch of liquid pectin and returned it to a boil. It boiled for 1 minute. Next, I put it in the jars.
They make a little magnetic wand for lifting the lids out of hot water but I have never owned one. I put a little magnet on the end of a butter knife and it works just as well.
I put the jars in a water bath canner and when the water started boiling I set the timer for 10 minutes. After the time is up, I remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes before taking the jars out.
All photos are mine
