Saturday, August 21, 2010

Canning Bing Cherries and Blueberries

This year, I have been on a cooking kick, so I thought ... why not do a little canning?  HA!  Not as easy as I thought.  First I made Bing Cherry Jam.  Oh excuse me, I made Bing Cherry Sauce.  It's actually more like a glaze type thing that has cinnamon, cloves, and Amaretto (almond) liquor in it.  It would be excellent on chocolate cake or spice cake or bread pudding.  It may be good for some baked dishes with winter squash.  I'll have to experiment.  It wasn't quite what I wanted.  If it had been only sweet instead of savory, it would have been good on a frozen dessert.  I gave some to my best friend, who is going to use it as a glaze on a ham at the holidays.  I have to admit, it would be perfect on a ham or pork roast, but I don't eat those any longer.  Maybe I can use it on a seitan roast.  I'll have to look for something suitable.  The recipe made 4 full pint jars.  I'll take one to my sister, which will leave me with 2 jars. 
Not satisfied with my semi-successful attempt with the bing cherries, I made blueberry jam today.  This recipe did not call for any spices.  It was just blueberries, citric acid, sugar, and pectin.  It's actually a recipe for my bread maker.  I threw in the ingredients, selected JAM on the menu, and hit START.  OK, this time I think I have a complete winner.  The blueberry jam covering the walls of the bread pan was gelling shortly after I had filled all of the jars.  I put them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, and VOILA!  I believe I have blueberry jam.  My recipe made 5 half pints.  I love blueberry jam.  I made it once many years ago (probably 15 or more) and it turned out perfect and was extremely tasty.  Just from sampling it from the side of the bread pan, today's batch is very delicious.  

Now that I've had success, I will be venturing out.  There is a Blueberry Butter recipe I'd like to make that is one the blog One Green Tomato.  It looks great and extremely easy.  It's a crock pot recipe.  I'd also like to make some homemade salsa and can it.  The possibilities are endless.

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