A Jammin Good Time with my Niece and Kim!

On Monday I headed into the kitchen to make some Black berry jam. I had wanted to do this while Kim was here because she wanted to watch the process. Well, to my surprise and excitement, Jessica my 14 year old niece wanted in on the process as well. I thought it was so neat! So Jessica and I began by smashing berries which she helped me when they were in the bag and then I threw them into the pot and finished up myself. What a yummy mess as you can see by the picture below.


I love the color and at this point was getting even more excited since I knew what enjoyment is to come over the duration of however long this batch will last, which isn't long when Rodney begins to dig in.
Waiting for our rapid consistent boil, it's a good exercise of patients.
Then on to filling up the jars.

I got to help Jessica top off the jars which gave me sight into how nice it is to have help during this whole process.
When it came to cleaning the rims and threads of the jars, Kim got to jump in. So Kim wiped up the jars so they were nice and clean ready for our 2 part lids which Jessica followed right behind and put them on. After that we put them in the caner and gave them a 10 minute bath. As we pulled out the jars Jessica and I had the opportunity to hear the "pop" of the lids sealing up. We let them cool over night and wa la......Beautiful jars of blackish purple yumminess! I sent a jar home with Jessica but held the rest at ransom for her to come visit me soon for more and another go round only with Apple Butter next time. In doing this, it kicked in my desire for fall and all the warm yummy comforts that come along with it. I was craving fall so much that I made a black berry pie later that evening and it was so good. We will be harvesting pears and apples soon and even sweet corn. I am very excited!