What a crazy, chaotic time of year! Holy crapola, I feel like I haven’t had a minute to blog, much less relax. But here I am! Doing both! This blog is a relaxation mechanism for me. I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy sharing it with others. In the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to say thank you for reading and following! Christmas is absolutely my favorite holiday. This year was extremely difficult, and we are still struggling, to be festive and merry without my mother-in-law. Christmas is also a time to reflect on what we DO have in life. I am surrounded by an amazing family, extended family, and friends I consider family. We have our health. We have a home. Whatever your own struggles this time of year, try hard to remember what you do have in life. Be thankful, not everyone is as fortunate. Whoa. Started to get a bit sentimental there. Yes, it’s definitely the holiday season.
This year I made a spiced Christmas jam. I reviewed and researched several different recipes and concocted one with my own twists. My favorite part of these are the trimmings. I trimmed by topping the jam with a star anise and cinnamon stick in the jar before I pressure canned them. I chose them because they are said to bring luck, prosperity, protection, and peace. And they are pretty.
Back to the jam at hand. I really like to give homemade gifts. When my 21-year-old was little, homemade gifts were a necessity. One year I handmade all of my Christmas cards out of popsicle sticks and construction paper. Even when I was dirt poor, I held onto the Christmas spirit of giving. That was a long time ago. I’ve been able to afford Christmas cards for a while now. But I still love giving homemade gifts, out of love, not necessity these days.
This jam is fairly versatile. You can serve on toast, biscuits, pancakes or crackers. You could serve over melted brie cheese. I think it would pair wonderfully with goat cheese. You could make meatballs. You could make candied bacon. Over ice cream. Lots and lots of possibilities. Some people may shy away from it, because of the spices. But the jam itself is super sweet. Those spices mellow out the sweet and bring a savory aspect. Thus, creating that versatility.
When the jam was pressure canned, sealed, and set, I went 80’s style and cut squares of fabric to dress the jars with. Then I used some twine to lace in a label with a little poem I wrote about the trimmings. I didn’t make very may and I still have a few more to give out. Grandma, if you are reading this I have one for you that I forgot to bring on Christmas Day. I also only gave these out to local family. I didn’t want to risk damage during shipping. But it could be done.
In case you are interested, I’ve added some canning tips to the some of the photo captions.
Overall, this was I really fun project that I enjoyed making, just as much as giving!
Josie’s Sassy Spiced Christmas Jam
Ingredients
40 oz frozen strawberries
24 oz frozen cranberries
5 lbs sugar
2 (3oz) packets of liquid fruit pectin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Juice and zest of 1 orange
- Optional (for trimming or garnishing)
Cinnamon sticks, cut in halves.
Star anise
Directions
- Prepare your canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in water. Do this by putting the jars in the pot, filling the jars with water, then add enough water to the pot to cover all. Once you have reached full boil, start a timer and boil for 10 minutes. When finished, remove and put on a metal rack.
- Break down the fruit using a blender or food processor.
- Once it’s blended down to your desired consistency, add to a stock pot, along with the sugar, spices, juice and zest of the orange. While stirring often, bring to a full rolling boil (this takes a while to get to) and boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat, stir in the pectin packets. Heat to a boil again, then continue boiling for another minute or so.
- Skim the foam off the top.
- Fill your prepared jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Put lids and rings on jars.
- Using the water bath method of canning; after you have reached a full boil, continue boiling for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove jars to wire rack to cool, seal and set. Do not move the jars for 24 hours.
Notes
- Makes 16 8-ounce jars. Not all of them sealed. Always check your lids to make sure they are sealed. If not, you can store them in the fridge, just like you would store bought jam.
