Raspberry Jam - A simple recipe.

 Our raspberry bushes were overflowing this year!  I couldn't

use all of the berries so I put some in the freezer. This crisp fall day seemed like the perfect time to pull the berries out of the freezer and make jam.  First things first, I sterilized the lids and jars.

You may choose to use jars that have been sterilized or jars that have not been sterilized.  I chose the former, submersing the jars in boiling water for ten minutes.

The jars have been sterilized and set on a clean towel.

This is a very easy recipe!  All you need is raspberries and sugar.  It's a one to one ratio; one cup of raspberries and one cup of sugar.  Two cups of raspberries and two cups of sugar.  And so on.

I had six cups of raspberries, thus I used six cups of sugar.

Making sure they were thawed, I put the berries into the pan and brought them to a rolling boil.  This will take a few minutes so be patient!  Boil for two minutes after you've achieved the rolling boil.

Have your tools standing by.  Your sugar should be measured and ready to go.  You'll need something to mash the berries with as well.

I used my mashed potato tool and mashed the berries while heating.

Stir in the sugar.  Return to boil.

Use caution.  The mixture is very hot.

Boil for approximately 5 minutes or until mixture is the consistency of thick syrup when tested with a spoon.  Carefully ladle int jars.  It can be a bit messy so I set the jars on this old cookie sheet.  Put covers on but do not tighten too tightly.

While jars are hot, immerse in a hot water bath for five minutes (15 minutes if jars are not sterilized).  Be sure to use tongs while immersing and removing jars from boiling water.  Note - Water should be boiling.  Jar should not touch bottom of pan.  You can see from the photo that I used extra rings to set on bottom of pan.  I set the jars on the rings and made sure there were two inches of water on top of jars.

Be very careful when completing this step.

Remove jars with tongs and set on towel to cool.  Once jars are cool, tighten rings.

Attach a label and give as a gift.  As you can see here, we are lucky to have a bountiful raspberry patch but you may use frozen raspberries that are store bought as well.