I made jam!

[pepperami]

I got all my foraged gooseberries out of the freezer yesterday and decided to make use of them.

after much gooseberries, sugar,pectin, boiling and general messing about in the kitchen, I have jam

the first batch was to thin and needed to be boiled down more.
I think the "art" is to boil down slowly and not have a raging boil going on.
the second batch has come out fine .
I am testing it right now, with toasted muffins, melted butter, and a cup of tea, at the same time I have Jah Wobble on the stereo.
It does`nt get much better than this

Wow! something I did went right?

Nom nom nom, all mine, nom nom nom
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[N cee thirty]

my mum made plum jam the other year and it was meh

nothing beats strawberry
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[Dazbo666]

my nan's orange marmalade ... to die for mmmmm
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Word of the day : DILLIGAF

[stinkwheel]

It'll taste even better if you can avoid scranning the lot for the next three or four months.

I made some hawe and elderberry jelly a couple of years ago. It was disappointingly bland so I shoved it in a cupboard. Tried it again a year later and it had turned a deep ruby red and tasted absolutely fantastic with a good balance of tartness to sweetness and complex tannin undertones. I've even been using it dissolved in hot water as a very pleasant drink (tastes like fruit teas smell).

'tis also rosehip syrup season. Rice pudding with rosehip syrup.

Actually. I need to get round to bottling my wine. Got some Wild bramble and some sloe. Bottled last years elderberry wine a couple of weeks ago. It tasted very promising. Should be ready for Christmas.

If you like doing preserves, try doing some pickled pears too.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[pepperami]

[Codemonkey]

I made a load of blackberry and chilli jam this year, tastes great on crackers with cream cheese

[stinkwheel]

Pickled pears. Couldn't be simpler.

You need to peel the pears first but I'd usually leave them whole with the stalk on (life's to short and they look good on the plate, also less likely to turn to mush). See if you can get cooking pears or the firmest desert pears you can find.

You need half the weight of pears in sugar and half the weight of sugar in vinegar (so say 2kg pears, 1kg sugar, 500ml vinegar).

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar over a low heat, then bung the pears in and put the lid on. Simmer until the pears are cooked and you have a lovely golden coloured syrup (my last lot, using very firm cooking pears, took a good 4 hours but it all depends on the fruit).

Don't worry about the seemingly tiny amount of liquid to start. The juices will seep out of the pears and combine with the sugar and vinegar to make enough liquid to cover them.

Bottle hot into sterilised jars then seal in a baine mairee.

Some people essentially boil the pears in spiced vinegary water (even Delia Smith does). This isn't really what you are trying to do, the fruit makes its own syrup, the vinegar is just there to get it started.

Use white wine vinegar or cider vinegar. You can bung cloves, cinamon and star anise in according to taste. I've even heard of peple putting some cardamon or corriander pods in there.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[stinkwheel]

[pepperami]

Thank you Mr Stinkwheel
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Clanger]

At the moment, Sainsbury are doing 4 x pears for .30p if you don't have fresh ones growing nearby.

Which reminds me, I need to go back down the little park near me, I found three apple trees growing wild down there. Plus should go and look for blackberries (ate loads on the walk last Saturday).
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Inkognito]

I love gooseberry jam!

I keep looking for it every time i go shopping but the last one i found was a few years back now.
No idea why they thought it was a good idea to discontinue that as it's the best jam in the world!

[Tonka]

My Aunt makes me gooseberry jam every year - this morning I will be mainly eating it with some nice warm croissant.........

.............before I set about a mammoth pile of rosehips that need preparing for rosehip syrup and an even mammotherer pile of sloes that need sorting for the vodka production line that has developed chez moi!!

I missed all the elderberries this year, as I just didn't have room for them. There have been heaps of blackberries and sloes and the freezer is packed full to give me a bit of breathing space in the kitchen before deciding what to do with them all!

When I finally get around to my garage re-arranging I'm thinking that I may have to try and squeeze another freezer out there!!
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[pepperami]

Every year, due to other commitments I end up missing most of the wild hedgerow harvest .
But this year I was determind to get something out of it and I did.
I still have time for a few apple pies
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Clanger]

[Tonka]

[stinkwheel]

[Clanger]

Oh yeah I've seen a whole load of them, thought they were poisonous though...

Actually today on my walk, I was happily munching along the hedgerows, and got to one batch of elderberry and lobbed a load in, and bleugh!!! I had to spit them out, they had been sprayed with something nasty...

I kept spitting and rubbing my tongue with my hoodie sleeve all the way home. If I'm dead in the morning, you'll all know what did it!!!!

I tried Sloes today, they are quite bitter...are they supposed to be? Apart from stuffing them into gin or vodka, what else can be done with these?

If alive, I might go on a foraging session again tomorrow, but armed with bags this time.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[stinkwheel]

[Clanger]

These pics will show you why I asked the question about rosehips...

These are both grown on bush trees, not a thorn in sight, but VERY similar...
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Clanger]

p.s. you will have guessed I made it through the night.

I also have seen some plants that look exactly the same as elderberry, same leaf, same bunching of the fruit, but bright red.

I didn't take a photo. But could you hazard a guess?
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Carl_steveo]

Right this thread has taken my interest.

I have never ever in my life eaten jam. I love strawberrys and the prospect of strawberry jam has always appealed to me. I'm a little bit worried that I'm going to eat it and it's a bit murrrghh.

I love mullar corner yogurts with the strawberry in it, is it anything like that lol.

I see the rosehips about all the time but the ones I see aren't oval they seem to be a bit more roundish, like miniture pumpkins. Like Tonka though we used to put them down each others backs.

I want to make jam now if it's nice lol.
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[Tonka]

First pic is Hawthorn - shape of leaf and the type of berries give that one away. Stinkwheel has noted above that you can do stuff with them but not very interesting.

Second one looks like the rosehips from a rosa rugosa - they are very podgy and round. Not sure if you can treat the in the same way as ordinary rosehips, but tbh they are froma rose, so cannot see any reason why not.

EDIT: Yep, Rosa Rugosa and hips can be used just the same as the Dog Rose Hips
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'The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences'
Suzuki SV650S (Clean); Yamaha XT250 Serow (Dirty)

[stinkwheel]

[stinkwheel]

[Clanger]

Ha! Typically they are called Red Elderberry!!!
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss