Anticiplate

As a young girl, canning was a summer constant. My mother had a huge garden filled with every fruit and vegetable Southwestern Virginia could grow. She would spend hours picking peaches, blueberries, raspberries, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, radishes. You name it. But, not even our neighbors could keep up with all of the produce coming out of our garden. I would make humiliating deliveries to their front doors, praying they would not answer after I rang the doorbell, to offer them plastic Kroger bags over-filled with tomatoes, green beans, corn, and herbs. On my summer layoffs, my one chore each day was to pick the garden.

My mother’s solution to this surplus, in addition to freezing blueberries and dehydrating tomatoes, was to can EVERYTHING. She pickled, she jammed, she sugared, she sauced, she preserved. She would get her huge pressure canner and fill it with jars of peaches in simple syrup, green beans in water, tomato sauce, raspberry jam, and zucchini pickles.

I didn’t realize how lucky I was. In the dead of Winter, I would take for granted the succulent peaches I would spoon over my vanilla bean ice-cream, or the sweet tomato basil sauce that I popped open from the can I found on the bottom of the wood bookshelf in the basement. Green beans would be eaten in one serving, right out of the can, and the pickles….well. After reading this blog, you should know my obsession with pickles. I owe it to my mother.

As much as I would love to follow in her footsteps, my house is way too small to have tons of jars of preserved produce lying around, taking up valuable square footage. So, my solution for when I want to make my own jam: Icebox jam without pectin.

Simple, easy.

If I can do it, so can you.

This all stemmed from the desire to make this pizza, creating a family meal for The Restaurant, and my new commitment to stop buying store-bought products that I can actually make myself. So, for the pizza, I decided to make attempt to make my own dough, which was an interesting process. My first batch turned out looking like an animals brain due to not enough water, and too much yeast. My second batch looked good, but it took to long to proof. Luckily, I purchased a back up dough last night from Whole Foods, that ended up being my saving grace when I am working at A&O, last night. I didn’t want The Chefs making fun of me.

My icebox jam, however, turned out stupendously. I have never made jam before, I tweeted that I needed some advice, and after many responses, I came up with this version. Enjoy!

Makes 1 large can of icebox jam

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Inactive Cook time: 24 hours

4 c. fresh blueberries

3 c. cane sugar

Juice and zest of one and a half fragrant lemons

1 Granny Smith Apple peel

Pinch of Kosher Salt

In a large pot, over high heat, combine all the ingredients (but just one lemon’s juice). Stir blueberries into the sugar until the sugar dissolves, and the blueberries start to break down. Boil for 20 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove apple peel.

Spoon into a large, sanitized 16 oz. jar, and refrigerate for 24 hours. When ready to eat, squeeze 1/2 lemons juice right in the jar to cut the sweetness.

Can be stored for 1 month.