Week of August 11

TAProots farm frequently provides a surplus of berries and fruits that is more than we can enjoy for breakfast or desserts.  Our friends and neighbors enjoy our boxes of berries and peaches.  We use some in liquors (blackberry) or as sauces (plum), others are dehydrated (peaches, apricots, apples).  But the major use of our bumper crops is for jam and jelly.  We make two kinds of jams: freezer jam and cooked jam.  The freezer jam is not cooked so the flavors are richer, but shipping to our Florida Home is difficult.  Making it is easy with fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin mixed and allowed to set for 24 hours, then frozen.  So far in 2019, we have batches of 3 berry (red, purple, and black raspberry), 4 berry (plus blueberry) and anticipate a batch of peach.  The cooked jam is a bigger process with fruit preparation, cooking the fruit, sugar, and pectin, then canning the jam in boiling water.  This jam does not need refrigeration until it is opened.  So far this year, we have made batches of red plum, and Illi19 (Illini blackberries with thorns), with batches of peach, blackberry, and blackberry/peach anticipated.  The jams on a muffin or scone in the middle of winter is a wonderful reminder of our good times at TAProots.