Dewberry jelly and jam - done

[George Shirley]

We just finished making three and half pints of dewberry jelly and one
pint of dewberry jam.

This is the first time I used the steamer to gather berry juice, worked
well but took a long time to get the juice. Ended up with eight cups of
juice and two cups of the leftovers. I ran the leftovers through the
food strainer and ended up with two cups of jam makings. First time I've
ever made berry jam. I left it as a soft jam versus heavily jelled. Must
say it tasted fine on some sweet bread I made yesterday. Just used the
pot scrapings for the bread.

Cooked the jelly to 220F on the money, used my fairly new instant
electronic thermometer and, as a safeguard, checked it with a cold
spoon. Old folks are sometimes slow to change, I will know if I have
once the jelly has set awhile.

Could not find my canning funnel, have had that thing for twenty years
and have no idea where it got off to. Used an ordinary funnel and it
worked okay. Next time to market I will get another canning funnel. Had
to hunt for my lid lifter and jar lifter, finally found them right where
I put them three months ago. !!!

We may go berry picking again soon as the blackberries are now ripening.
We've had some good rains lately so the berries should be nice and fat.

George

[gloria p]

That's a nice report, George. It sounds as though you have made a
relatively smooth transition to your new home. I'm glad the grands will
get a preserving lesson from you.

Our trees are suffering from the heavy April snow and cold. This
weekend is about the first time it is safe to plant tender annuals,
herbs, and vegetables but we will be gone for almost a month from mid
June so we are not planting until we get back if then. We'vve learned
you can't depend on other people (no matter how well-intended they are)
to make sure our little plot is watered regularly. It can get hot enough
so that the automatic lawn sprinklers 2x/week aren't enough to keep
things alive.

I'd never heard of dewberries till you mentioned them and I Googled.
I am jealous of your wild gleanings.

gloria p