Good Things by David

Homemade jams are one of life's little luxuries.  An abundance of raspberries, can be found at farmers markets right now which can be enjoyed as is, but if you want to extend the pleasure of these summer berries, I suggest making a bit of jam so that you can stir some into a bowl of yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast, or to have on buttered toast with your tea.  Because it is homemade, you don't have to worry about preservatives, corn syrups or other unpleasant ingredients that are often found in supermarket jams and jellies. Here at home we've been having a bumper crop of raspberries, and now it appears as if we'll have an abundance of blackberries in the near future.  We picked a few blackberries a couple of days ago, but there are many more waiting to be plucked.   Can you blame us for being tempted just to eat these raspberries in their natural state? Small, dark red and very juicy, the wild raspberries that grow on the property are always anticipat...

This is my first time making cherry jam and I must say that I'm very fortunate to have taken the time to do so over the weekend.  In late June I purchased some sour cherries & yellow cherries at the farmers market with the intention of making a pie like I normally do every year.  I never got around to it.  The cherries had been pitted and frozen, yet they were still sitting there doing nothing, so I thought it was high time to make some jam! I immediately went to David Lebovitz's  blog to see what I could find, because he always has great recipes, tips and ideas for all of us.  Intrigued by a "no-recipe" cherry jam of his, I read the entry and set forth to create my own jam using what I had in the kitchen.  The ingredients were simple: cherries, lemon juice (he adds the zest to the jam, I do not) and sugar.  What could be easier? Having read his entry twice, I chose a deep stockpot to make the jam and stirred, watched and tes...