The Edmonds Challenge: No more excuses

Raspberry jam (p228) has been at the top of my 'jams to do' list for months. You see, there are almost a dozen recipes in other parts of the scripture that have raspberry jam as an ingredient, and I'm not near to go buying raspberry jam when I give to hold some anyway.

This meant that I couldn't fix any of these recipes until I'd got round to doing the jam.

And for several reasons, I scarcely kept not getting around to it: I'd forget to buy the (frozen) raspberries, or they were too expensive to fit into the grocery budget. Once, I went to Pak N Save specifically for raspberries, only to notice that they'd sold out. Another time, I'd been out for a walking and wound up at Merivale, where I noticed frozen raspberries on special. I grabbed some and was almost at the checkout before I realized I didn't get my wallet with me!

This evening, I finally got a parcel of frozen raspberries, and came home with the design of finally getting this jam out of the way. My determination briefly wavered after a fast walk to the library - I was quite tempted to give the jam for another dark and sit down with one of my books.ButI couldn't give into this temptation without making a liar out of myself:I'd announced at play that I was going house to create jam (this in answer to a belligerent demand for baking. It wasn't a big comeback, since it immediately elicited the response "oh good, you can bring some scones to go with it").

Anyway, as shortly as I got home,I headed into the kitchen to get the job done. Luckily, it's a remarkably simple recipe, with just two ingredients: raspberries and sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. I began by putting three cups of raspberries in a pan, heating them until they defrosted and the juices began to run out. This took a few minutes, so I got some jars sterilising in the oven while I waited.

When the raspberries were appropriately juicy, I added the sugar, which briefly swamped the raspberries to the place where it seemed like I was release to be dealing with a thick, pink sugar paste. To my relief, this soontransformed into a nice jammy-looking mixture, so all I had to do was stand there stirring until the sugar dissolved - oh good, my favorite pastime. Itdidn't take all that long though, andonce it was thoroughly dissolved,I just hadto let it boil fora few minutes - nofaffing aboutwith setting point tests or anything, the matter about this jam is thatit's still runny when you put it in thejar, but it's supposed to firm up after a few days' storage.

Afterfour minutes on theboil, I took the jam off the heat andtransferred it to the preparedjars.Since I get not yet acquired a jam funnel, I poured the jam first intoa large jug, and then into the jars. I really should have learnedby now to study the jars out a little before and let them cool down slightly - the jam was boiling in thejars asI poured it in. It now remains tobe seen whether the jamwill firm up nicely or not. I'll see it in a few days, andI'll be capable to get out what it tastes like.I'm not too optimistic - I thinkit'll be very sweet. The mixture wasstill slightly tart when I was dissolving the sugar, but during the boiling process it seems to haveturned into something horribly sickly, judging by thebrief taste I had before washing out the jug. I'll just get to hold and see!