Guest Post: A Little Fire

I've got a great guest post for you today! It's from Aiden FitzGerald, a freelance writer and the voice behind A Little Fire. Aiden, her husband Charlie Barmonde (a ceramicist and an old friend of Hubs' from his days of hijinks and shenanigans in Sarasota, Florida) and their adorable young son Felix live in the tiny coastal Rhode Island town of Little Compton. She recently wrote a guide to the area, an absolutely dreamy region referred to as the "Farm Coast," in Design Sponge. Next time I'm up that way, I'm definitely getting my Farm Coast tour on, no doubt.

Aiden recently enjoyed the fruits of her labors, after ravaging her raspberry bushes and rendering the ruby orbs into raspberry jam. I know a number of you are firing up your canners and turning out all manner of jams these days, so her post is especially timely. Here, she shares her experience with us.

Raspberries

By Aiden FitzGerald

"Aside from being jabbed in my eye by a branch as I reached for a raspberry, dark and plump and begging to be plucked, my first canning experience was delightful and delicious – and eye opening.

With my fourteen-month-old son slung on my hip, I picked berries from the bushes in our backyard. Just like Sal in McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal, he grabbed them from the bowl, gobbling them faster than I could pick. Eventually I moved him to my back and fed him at a slower place.

With a bowl (and bellies) full of raspberries and our fingers stained fuchsia, we headed inside to have a go at uncovering the mystery of canning jam. While most readers of Ashley’s small measure are probably avid food preservers, canning isn’t part of my culinary background. I had never wielded a jar lifter and hadn’t a clue what a water bath had to do with the process. But the idea of enjoying on a cold winter day something fresh from our summer garden appeals to me, and I’d like my son to grow up with such experiences.

So I sanitized jars and scrutinized the recipe, resisting my tendency to stray from its directions. I measured carefully—2 cups of berries, 2 cups of sugar. It took everything in me not to reduce the amount of sugar and add a little zest, maybe some mint, or ginger.

As the heavenly scent of sweet boiling berries filled my kitchen, I wondered why I hadn’t done this sooner. Sometimes, I was reminded, we just have to leap. And soon enough we’re rewarded – in this case, by the satisfaction of smearing my own homemade jam (tasty, but too sweet) on toast.

Next time I’ll embrace my urge to experiment. (Add some rum? Ashley’s recipe for blueberry raspberry jam with allspice and rum sounds delicious.) First, though, I think I’ll try something savory. Our cucumbers are calling and I’m craving some pickles."

Thank you so much, Aiden, for your guest post. That jam looks phenomenal!

What about you? Got a hot topic you think will appeal to small measure readers? Shoot me an e-mail at: ashleyadamsenglish(at)gmail(dot)com and let's see what we can work out.

Blueberry-Raspberry Jam with Allspice & Rum

Here I am, on a hot, sticky Friday night, the gentle rumble of a mountain thunderstorm calling outside, stirring jam and lifting jars in and out of a boiling cauldron. Down to the wire (all entries are due by midnight tonight!), I was determined to get my entry in this month for the June edition of Tigress's Can Jam.

As the item called for in the challenge was "berries", I took the liberty of mixing two options, blueberry and raspberry. Doesn't get much more summertime than berries! And with a hint of allspice and a kiss of dark rum, these beauties will be a timely, and undoubtedly well-received, gift come the holidays!

Blueberry-Raspberry Jam with Allspice & Rum

Yield: Eighteen 4-ounce jars, or 4-5 pint jars.

You will need:

-2 pints (4 c.) blueberries, fresh or frozen

-1 pint (2 c.) raspberries, fresh or frozen

-6 c. granulated sugar

-1/4 c. dark rum

-2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

-1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice

-2 packets liquid pectin

To prepare:

1. Sterilize mason jars, lids, and screw rings in size of your choice. Fill a canner or large stockpot with water and set over medium-high heat. Bring just to the boiling point. Place the lids in a small saucepan, fill with water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and set the pan aside.

2. Rinse berries gently with cold water. Using either a potato masher or quick pulses in a food processor, mash the berries coarsely (be sure to leave chunky bits; your objective is to mash, not to blend to uniformity).

3. Place mashed berries, sugar, rum, lemon juice, and allspice in a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring continually.

4. Once mixture achieves a full, rolling boil, add liquid pectin. Stir constantly for one minute. Remove from heat and, using a skimmer or slotted metal spoon, skim off any foam.

4. Remove the hot jars from the canner and place them on top of a kitchen cloth on the counter. With the help of a canning funnel, ladle the jam into the jars, reserving 1/4-inch headspace. Use a nonmetallic spatula to remove any trapped air bubbles and wipe the rims clean with a damp cloth. Place on the lids and screw bands, tightening only until fingertip-tight.

5. Using a jar lifter, place the filled jars into the canner. Process for 10 minutes, beginning processing time only once water is at a full, rolling boil. Remember to adjust for altitude.

*Hot jars 'a cooling. Please pardon the poor light and dreaded flash witnessed in the photo above. Like I said, I'm down to the wire and, come nighttime, my customarily darkened house gets positively tomb-like.

Berry Bliss

Zoinks, kids! I only just now realized I'd forgotten to post my "Small Measures with Ashley" column this past weekend! You can check it out over on Design Sponge. This week I waxed rhapsodic about all things berry, culminating with the recipe for my Blueberry-Raspberry Allspice & Rum Jam (yup, it's the same jam I posted here about a week ago; thing is, it's just so good that I figured my Design Sponge readership deserved to hear about it as well).

I do know how I forgot about posting it, though. I got a massive burst of energy on Thursday and Friday. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I've always been a high-energy lady. I'm constantly busy, doing this's and that's, running thither and yon. When Nugget came along, though, mid-February, I was stopped squarely in my tracks. My little feller put the kibosh on said energy, lulling me instead into the land of multiple naps, chronic digestive distress, and just-barely-managing-to-keep-the-show-going levels of functioning.

When I woke up Thursday morning and realized I felt so good, I decided to capitalize on it. Over the weekend, I did yard work, completely cleaned out our basement (corroded over as it was with the funk of forty-thousand years), and re-organized our large walk-in pantry. It felt amazing. Of course, Saturday came and Nugget kicked in and said "Pump your brakes, Mom. Let's take it down a few notches," resulting in the need for not just one, but two naps that day. No matter. I was feeling good again yesterday and, even though it's not yet 8 a.m. and the day hasn't fully become realized, so far, I feel fine, so it's all sorts of yard work on the agenda today.

You can see, then, how I might have neglected to post on this little blog. My husband has an axiom he often uses when referring to seizing an opportunity: "Make hay while the sun shines." The hay in this scenario being my energy level, we were cutting, bailing, and stacking hay all weekend long!

Hope your fourth was grand and your week ahead full of wonder!

*Just to start your week out on a high note, I'm supplying you with these two random acts of kindness, one in video form and one posted as a blog entry. Enjoy, and be moved!

1) Video (be sure to read the little caption under the video for an explanation of what this flash mob is up to-bear in mind, the passengers are all strangers to the driver, and the song being sung is the Danish very of "Happy Birthday to You").

2) Blog (from the land of Oz!).