Blueberry fun

With our trip to Hawaii quickly looming, I’ve been thinking about putting together some goodie bags for my family. Nothing complicated or fancy, just a few things to bring my “mainland” world back home. Since we now live out in the country with Brian’s family, and summertime means an abundance of blueberries on the farm, doing something homemade with them popped into mind...as in blueberry jam, perhaps?

I had never canned anything in my life and didn't know the first thing about making jellies or jams, but I knew my mother-in-law did and I thought this would be a fun project for us to do together. She was happy to oblige so Brian and I spent about an hour yesterday picking them. Later that night we made up a batch of the jam and while it was more time-consuming than I imagined, the end results were scrumptious. I can’t wait to share this with my family in Hawaii! Yum!

Recipe:
(from the Certo box)
4-1/2 cups mashed blueberries (about 4 pints pre-mashed)
7 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon butter
2 packages liquid Certo fruit pectin

WASH jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water (tip: wash jars in the dishwasher and leave them in until ready to use). Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

STEM and crush blueberries thoroughly, one layer at a time. Measure exactly 4-1/2 cups prepared blueberries into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Stir in lemon juice.

STIR sugar into prepared blueberries in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.

INVERT jars for 5 minutes; then place right-side-up (this is the inversion method, I had no idea there were multiple ways to do this!).

Then wait on pins and needles for 24 hours to see if all your hard work paid off. If it sets up and tastes good you have yourself a winner! This recipe yielded 10-1/2 jars.