23 August 2016 - Early Harvest Jam

My to-do list is huge. I have categories of to-dos. House, yard, garden, shop. Cleaning, organizing, fix up. You name it. Some days the list is merely intimidating. Other days it seems like it is all hanging over my head. Then there are days when it seems so wonderful there is a list where you can actually cross things off. Total satisfaction. 

Lately though, I look at my list, make a plan to get something done and then do something else entirely. Is it the perversity of human nature?  I never liked being told what to do, even if it is me doing the telling. Today my plan was to get some more type cases cleaned out.  I started by finishing one that was half done several days ago. Did I start on the next one? No. 

I was seduced by the plums in the back yard. But first you have to understand that last weekend my brother called and said "Get down here, the plums are falling off the tree." Both of us love plum jam.  I wandered that way, checked out his current projects, then we picked plums.  I had forgotten how many plums it takes for jam and I came home with two large boxes of very ripe Santa Rosa plums. Way too many. 

In no time my kitchen looked like this.

It is a seriously satisfying to sit back and listen to the "poink" as the jars seal. 

Last Saturday and Sunday I made 43 jars of jam. I sent David off with almost half of it and I have given some to my neighbors. 

Yet, here I am, with another just finished batch of 10 jars of jam. I have an ancient Damson plum tree in my yard that seems to bare fruit every three years. I hadn't noticed the fruit until today. High up, and not a lot. Got out the ladder and picked fruit. 

Damson plums are hard to find but they are perfect for jam. They are so tart that they aren't good for eating, but that same tartness is wonderful in jam. I use about half as much sugar as most recipes call for as I prefer the taste of the fruit, instead of the flavored sugar taste of most jams and jellies. 

Guess there are no more excuses, so back to the shop! But first, (is this more procrastinating?) maybe a slice of bread with fresh jam. Yum!

Note below:
I think I have mentioned before that my life is always accompanied by a soundtrack.  Today, my time in the kitchen pitting plums, cooking and jarring up hot fruit was accompanied in my head with Michelle Shocked's Strawberry Jam. 

Part of the lyrics...

Saturday morning found me itching
To get on over to my grandma's kitchen
Where the sweetest little berries were cooking up right
And then we'd put them in a canning jar and seal them up tight
We was making jam
Strawberry jam, that's what kind
If you want the best jam
You gotta make your own
Aw, one more time
Oh, making that jam
Yeah, strawberry jam
If you want the best jam
You gotta make your own

CLS:
  My brother has discovered that rather than use the jam on toast or muffins, or even on scrambled eggs which is my favorite, he thinks it is delicious as a sauce on ice-cream. Oh, boy.