sticky fingers

Our project to make jam for the Imperial War Museum started in earnest today with our first jam making session. Thanks, as ever, go to Sorella, for sharing her kitchen, shiny new jam pan and chocolate and beetroot cake - to keep us going, don't ya know?; and to WeeNa, Veronika and Elizabeth for mashing, stirring, chopping, measuring, pouring and observing the strictest standards of hygiene. An absence of blackberries put paid to our plans for blackberry and apple jam, so we opted for raspberry and the results were pretty good - rich, red ruby colour and firm set. And I can say with some confidence that the taste was good too because I had some on toast tea today. A reminder of summer on a wintry afternoon.

We also tried our hand(s) at some dried apricot jam. This was a little hit and miss - the recipe was quite different, with lots more liquid and some pre-boiling. The recipe was not quite as descriptive as we would have liked and we lost our nerve a bit which resulted in a wee bit of overboiling. Still, we came home with some sample pots and will let you have our verdict on the taste. I'll also include a post here on the books we have used and what we have learnt from the whole experience.

Our next jam making session is next Tuesday when we will be trying out two more wartime recipes - rhubarb and ginger, and carrot. Interesting, eh?