Learn from something new – make jam!

How often do you try something new? My mother is normally our jam supplier. She makes all kinds from regular strawberry jam, mixed fruits of the forest to some with a little bit extra. There are some many different sized jars in our home. It’s incredible! Now was my time to make jam and boy, it taught me a lot!

Happy to experiment

When was the last time you scrolled on Pinterest? There are so many inspirations. Some look way cooler – read outside my current capabilities – to try them at home. Others, like recipes, are great fun and I’m happy to try those out. There are often moments when I just play with the recipe (baking ones excluded) and see how it turns out. That’s the beauty of trying something new.

If I know some jam making basics

My mother doesn’t follow a recipe when making jam. It’s all trial and error for her. Just how do you make jam? As a beginner, I at least like to know the basics and reviewed different recipes. I wasn’t too fussed going to the shops, buying pectin, gelatine or what other fancy ingredients some recipes called for. For me, it was trying a simple recipe as a start, requiring only fruits, sugar and water, whatever was in our pantry.

Be ready for the unexpected

Did you ever boil milk? There’re no bubbles for quite some time and suddenly, it’s all rising fast. If you don’t reduce the heat, it spills over. Guess what happened to one of my jam pots? Exactly the same! I was not expecting the jam mass to rise and spill within that one split second I turn my back to it.

What a mess it made! Although I quickly grab the kitchen roll and caught some, there’s a substantial burn on the stove top. Since yesterday, I’ve been cleaning it and if any of you have an effective tip, please do share it in the comments box. Many thanks!

What an epic fail

For so long, it didn’t look like it’s was going to work out. After the spill over disaster, I felt incapable of making jam. The jam mass wasn’t settling or thickening no matter what I did. A simple activity shouldn’t be difficult, I thought. Why couldn’t I make jam?

Ask for help is okay

Who you’re gonna call? Ghostbusters wouldn’t be much help in that moment. Thanks Goodness there’s What’s App and my mom was already up. Her advise to keep stirring for 5 minutes (I’ve stirred for 20 minutes at that stage) wasn’t really helpful. However, her encouragement to keep going was exactly what I needed. Surprisingly, the jam mass started to thicken up and passed the settling test soon after.

Super proud

Look at my little beauties. What a proud moment filling those jars was! While they’re not as many as I had hoped for, it was beautiful to make something from scratch. The best part: They tasted super good, too!

I recognise that making jam isn’t as complicated as it may sound. Still, there were a few hiccups to overcome and who knows what we’ll be making later this month? Maybe we can finally bake a delicious loaf of bread.

I’m curious about you! As you look back on some of your recent experiments, what did you learn?

Until next time,
Agni