Jammin'

Bet you thought I was talking about music...no...but this is almost a sweet as a perfect love song.

I have never canned. When my kids were young I would occasionally venture into the realm of freezer jam (strawberry only) and freezer tomato sauce.

This past couple of years I have embraced whole foods, slowly removing from my grocery list processed items. Keeping canned foods to a minimum. I started with making my own granola and a type of cookie that would replace processed granola bars. Next trying my hand at drying fruits and veggies which has been so much fun. I have dried red bell peppers, seasonings, pineapple, pears, apples, blueberries and cherries (which are fabulous). Saturday, I made my first canned jams...well some are more like sauce but for the most part they turned out just as I had hoped. My pantry looks so good that sometimes I just stand there and gaze at the product of my endeavor. I have raspberry, blueberry, marionberry jam and cherry sauce. Making it from scratch allows me to know exactly what is going into the jam and to making it a full fruit option without the massive amount of sugar. Greg always chooses the simply fruit brand of jam, now I have enough to last...maybe till next summer????

The interesting thing is that with all the depressing news, the hits to our self esteem, the changes occurring around us...making jam has made me feel awesome...like I can provide for myself and my loved ones. Sometimes we have to create our own warm fuzzes.