Jam Exchange: What I Received

About a month ago I told you guys about the jam exchange Stephchows so graciously hosted. I shared what I sent and sat in eager anticipation wanting to know who had gotten my name and needing to know what kind of jam would be gracing my fridge (for however brief a time it would last).

Imagine my delight when I received my package at work a week ago, and tucked inside was two very unique flavors. Courtesy of Beantown Baker, I am now the proud owner of a jar of Vanilla Peach Bourbon jam and a jar of Rhubarb-Raspberry jam. My coworker and I opened them immediately and each had a spoonful of the two. I must say, both are absolutely splendid! When i got home, I pulled out a piece of wheat bread and cut it in half them smeared a good deal of each jam, one on either side. The rhubarb-raspberry tasted like a slice of pink lemonade, if pink lemonade was solid. The vanilla peach was a bit overwhelmed by the whole grains in the bread, but I know exactly which jam I'll be reaching for this weekend when I make scones...

Thanks again, Steph, for hosting, and Beantown Baker for some truly remarkable jam (her recipe for the vanilla peach bourbon can be found here).

Breakfast for Dinner

Tonight you get a two-fer. Hopefully this will make up for my absence over the last week and, hopefully again, hold you over until next week (I leave on Friday and will be spending tomorrow evening finishing packing and cleaning).

For the past few days I have been craving scones. I think this has to do with what I made over the weekend: lavender jam. It's more like a thick syrup than a true jam, but it's earthy and a bit sweet. I found the recipe via Brownie Points who linked to another blog. The scone recipe comes from one of my Irish cookbooks.

The scones are simple, and you should have most if not all of the ingredients on hand. What's really nice about the recipe is that it can be adapted (I love adaptable recipes). Sometimes, I stick with the plain scones, as the recipe is written, but other times I like to throw in some chocolate chips. It would also be good with some cinnamon and nutmeg or cardamom. Sprinkled with some brown sugar instead of white, I think it would taste like Christmas.

The jam was fairly straight forward as well. It calls for some alcohol, but it can be made fairly cheaply if you grow your own lavender (I'm looking at you, Sabine). I got my lavender from one of our local farmers' markets from a stall owned by The Spice Market. I'm thinking that when I get home from the reunion, I'll make some more and include it in my jam exchange (depending on how far my package will have to travel, I may even throw in some homemade scones). Just a word to the wise, be sure you really like lavender or are feeling adventurous. It's a different taste than let's say a lavender ice cream. Enjoy!



Scones
Recipe from Irish Cooking

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
5 Tbl sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cold butter, cut into 8 pieces (one stick)
1.3 cup cold milk
2 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place flour, 4 Tbl sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Mix together.
2. Using a pastry blender (or your hands, that's what I do), add butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (the actual recipe calls for using a food processor, but I prefer to use my hands for the whole recipe).
3. Reserving 1 Tbl of the milk and egg mixture, add the milk mixture and mix until the flour is blended in and dough is soft.
4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape into a ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Roll or pat into 8-inch circle. Cut dough into wedges using long sharp knife. Leave wedges in place, keeping circle in tact.
5. Brush reserved milk mixture over dough. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tbl sugar over dough. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack. Pull wedges apart to serve.
   

Lavender Jam
Recipe from JoAnna’s Food

10g dried lavender
50g caster sugar
2tablespoons of honey
150ml Marsala
100ml crème de cassis
120ml water

1. Put all the ingredients into a heavy saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until you have a syrup. Pour into a sterilised jar.

We Be Jammin!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am participating in a jam exchange being held over on Stephchows. There are still a couple of weeks before I actually needed to make the jam, and the fruit looked so good. I couldn't help myself!

The two jams I decided to make were Quadruple Berry and Pineapple-Rhubarb. I wanted something different and bit unique. The idea of Triple Berry sounded so good and was actually going to be the first one I attempted. It consists of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries...three of my favorites all together. I ended up at Whole Foods pretty early on Sunday morning to pick up the raspberries when I came across my other love: blueberries. "Surely I can add that to my triple berry and it will still taste good," I thought to myself. I grabbed a pint and made my way to the register as I tried to come up with a creative name for the jam. Black and Blue with some Red? Um, no. Bruised Ego Jam? Better. Quadruple Berry? Well, yes that's true. Nothing really stands out to me, so if you can come up with a creative name, I'd be eternally grateful (I might even be convinced to give a jar away to the person who came up with the best name...Hint hint!).

I'm in a love-obsession with rhubarb at the moment so I decided to try something a bit less conventional. I love pineapple and was so happy to come across a recipe that paired the two (I really didn't want to have to go the predictable route and use strawberry). I was a bit concerned that it wouldn't turn out since it called for way less sugar than the berries and absolutely no pectin (this was my first time so I had no idea what I was actually doing).

Overall, I'm happy with the outcomes. The berry jam is by far the better of the two (I'm counting down the minutes until breakfast so I can try it on toast). I actually think I'd like it with a schmear of peanut butter which you all know I just don't like. The rhubarb one is good, not great, but good. I think it would taste better heated up a little and put on a waffle or giant stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes. I'm still trying to come up with something special to add to the package that I'll be sending to my jam buddy. I'm excited to see what everyone else comes up with, but mostly I'm excited to hear if the person i get likes what I made. Enjoy!

Quadruple Berry
I adapted this recipe from the Triple Berry recipe in the Sure-Jell box

2 pints strawberries, hulled
1 1/2 pints raspberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint blueberries

7 cups sugar, divided

1 package pectin

1. Be sure all of the berries are cleaned. Crush berries into a large pot and mix together.
2. Mix 1/4 cup sugar with the package of pectin. Add this mixture to the berries and stir. Heat the berries to a rapid boil.
3. Add the remaining sugar and bring back to a rapid boil for exactly one minute. Remove from heat.
4. Fill your sterilized jars to within 1/4-inch of the top. Place sterilized lid and band on the jar and process for 10 minutes. Allow to rest in a cool dark place for 12 hours or overnight.

Pineapple-Rhubarb Jam
Recipe from Rhubarb Info

8 cups rhubarb, chopped
4 cups sugar
2 cups pineapple, chopped

1. Mix all ingredients together and boil to jam stage, about 30 minutes, being sure to stir the mixture every so often (I would do a little less, maybe begin checking on it at 20 minutes). Pour into sterilized jars and process as you would any other jam.

Jam Exchange

One of my favorite bloggers is hosting a jam exchange! I am incredibly excited at the thought of finally learning how to make jam that I'm having a hard time concentrating. If you're interested in joining, the rules are below as well as a link to a helpful site on jam making tips.

1. You do NOT need to have a blog to participate! Everyone is welcome to join in!
2. You must be willing to mail 2 jars of any kind of jam your little heart desires to your given person.
3. You must sign up with stephchows so she can make sure to pair you with someone! Email her at stephchows (at) gmail (dot) com with the following: Your name and address; Blog URL if you have one (see rule 1... you DO NOT need one); If you would be ok with mailing internationally or if you want to stick domestic (USA) (totally ok either way you choose). (I know the USPS has flat rate international boxes... probably the cheepest way).
4. If you would like your jam included in the final roundup email her a picture of it and a link to a blog entry if you have one up, or just email her to let her know what you sent/received.

You can see the rest of the details here (due date and all that jazz). Two helpful sites (one of which is from stephchows) are here and here. Happy jamming!