Backwoods Mamajam

Apricot Vanilla Bean Jam

Apricot Vanilla Bean Jam

Last year, apricots came and went and few made it through my door. It's a mystery as to how that happened because there are apricot trees everywhere around here. This year I promised myself that I would get apricots, even if I needed to do some guerrilla apricot...

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Peach Lavender Jam

Peach Lavender Jam

Peaches are available at our local u-pick and I was thrilled to be out there picking yesterday. We picked about 50 lbs of big beautiful peaches and brought them home to preserve for the coming winter. This morning I woke to the smell of peaches ripening in my kitchen,...

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Traditional Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Traditional Strawberry Vanilla Jam

When it comes to making jam the variations are endless. I have comes across quirky combinations like blueberries + basil, strawberry + Thai herbs and plums + cardamom. I made plum + cardamom jam last year and it was pretty good, but nothing can prove equal to the...

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Canning Raspberry Jam

Canning Raspberry Jam

This past weekend we went to the local u-pick and scrounged up 4 lbs of raspberries. The bushes were pretty picked over by the time we arrived. Some deep bush diving was necessary and scratches and thorns were endured, but we filled one ice cream bucket....

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Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

Last year, I didn't can strawberries. I never came across enough affordable organic strawberries to make much of anything. Strawberries are one of the worst fruits for pesticide contamination. According to this list it comes in third place, after celery (no....

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