Blueberry pickin' time in Texas

Some years I only harvest enough blueberries for one batch of blueberry muffins before the mockingbirds take over. Mockingbirds love blueberries and they are always on the watch for when the berries start turning blue.


Keeping an eye on things and waiting patiently.

This year, though, the blueberries have overwhelmed the capacity of both myself and the mockingbirds to keep up.



Four quarts of blueberries picked yesterday. There are more on the way.

So, once again I have the conundrum of what to do with a surfeit of produce from the garden. Finally, the squash plants seem almost exhausted. Now, here come the blueberries and next up, the cucumbers.

What to do with all those luscious blueberries? There's always the blueberry muffin recipe, but four quarts - and more on the way - would make an awful lot of muffins. No, I think most of them will have to be frozen for later use, but some can be made into jam. That's what I did today. I made a double batch, 10 half-pint jelly jars. Here is the recipe:

BLUEBERRY JAM
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□ 4 c. prepared fruit
□ 2 tbsp. lemon juice
□ 4 c. sugar
□ 1 pkg. fruit pectin
Crush ripe blueberries, one layer at a time. Measure into 6-8 quart sauce pot. Add lemon juice. Measure sugar, set aside. Mix fruit pectin into fruit in pan. Place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to full boil. Cook gently 1 minute. Immediately add measured sugar and stir. Bring to full, rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam with metal spoon, ladle into hot jars to 1/8 inch top of jars. Cover and process in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Makes 5 2/3 cups.

SPICED Jam: Add 1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon, cloves and allspice to fruit along with lemon juice.


I can't really vouch for this recipe, since I had never made it before, but it sounded good to me and looked good once it was in the jars.



My ten jars of blueberry jam.

I look forward to having some on toast or a homemade biscuit for breakfast someday soon.