Raspberries!

Raspberries are one of my favorite summer fruits.  I have a bunch of raspberry plants in the garden (you may have to wade through a jungle of weeds to find them but they are there).  We have been enjoying eating as many fresh raspberries as we can (Mmmmm raspberries on cereal, raspberries on toast, raspberries on ice cream, raspberries on yogurt, just a bowl of raspberries with a touch of sugar mmmmm!).

What we can't eat fresh we have been freezing.  Either as whole raspberries to eat throughout the winter or as freezer jam.  I have never really gotten into canning and preserving as it seems like a lot of work and I am a little intimidated by it.  However making freezer jam is really simple.

You start by washing your berries.

Then you crush them up.  I just use my potato masher for this.  This is a good job for the kids to do although if they get a little vigorous you may end up with raspberry splatters all over (ask me how I know).

Then you mix together sugar and pectin in a bowl.  As you can see I use Bernardin freezer jam pectin.  This is about $2.20 at my grocery store.  Follow the directions on the package for the amount of fruit and sugar to use.

Then you add your crushed berries to the sugar and pectin and mix well (my package says to stir for 3 minutes).

All that is left to do is pour the jam into any freezer safe container, let set for 30 minutes, and then store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or the freezer for 6 months.  I just use old glass jars to store my jam in; taking care not to fill them too full so there is room for expansion.