One of the great things about living in the country is that in the summer there's usually a wealth of fruit that magically appears on your doorstep. In years past I've been given loads of apricots from friends and neighbors that have too much fruit to eat, also figs, cherries, blackberries, you name it. This year it was plums!!! Our friends Denis and Kirsten came over with over 7 kilos of plums this weekend. Some friends of theirs have a tree that has so much fruit they don't know what to do with it. So, every year I make jam, so much jam that I can't eat it all, especially since for some reason, although we like it, we just don't eat that much jam. (I think it's really because of the fact that I love jam on bread with lots of yummy butter, yes jam=vehicle for butter, and I try to eat a healthier breakfast than that these days. The problem with me is, I have no self discipline.)
When we first moved here, I didn't really know how
to make jam, so I went to see our neighbor Mme Rivet, who lives
across the street. Mme Rivet makes all kinds of jam and preserves so she volunteered to teach me how to make it. In fact, it's insanely easy, 700 grams of sugar to one kilogram of fruit, cooked in a copper jam pan for about 45 minutes, then scooped into jars while it's still hot! Then you flip the jar upside down so that the heat creates a good seal, no canning, no sterilizing, just turn it upside down, now
that's my kind of recipe.
Every time my sister in law Jenn comes to visit from Switzerland she takes back as much jam as she can fit in her suitcase, she just loves it. So yesterday I spent the day making plum jam in honor of Jenn, for this Thursday is her birthday!! So she'll have lots of yummy plum jam to eat all year long!! Happy Birthday Miss Jennie!!!
Your copper pan looks great! It reminds me of my first years at Lisson, when I had a lot more time to concentrate on jam and marmalade, no wines behind the house and an enormous cherry-tree. I made tons of jam every year - till the day I noticed that I already stocked 5 or 6 "millésimes" on cherry-jam in my cellar....
Posted by: Iris | July 24, 2007 at 10:19 AM