Happy end of Monday! I don’t know about you, but I hate Mondays. So the fact that it’s over is awesome. We went back to work today and in contrast with last week, things are very slow and nothing is really happening. Oh well.

If you remember, Jason and I went berry picking the other day on the way home from the conference. Since we picked several pounds, we’ve been eating berries galore since we got home. Blueberry pancakes, blueberry slab pie, and of course lots of oatmeal with berries.

Do you see the size of those blackberries?! They are way bigger than any I’ve seen in the store.

And I had some Georgia peaches on hand so I also made a healthy Blackberry-Peach Crisp.

And I also made a nice batch of blackberry jam! I’ve made strawberry jam before, and I tried a strawberry-blackberry blend, but this was my first time making jam with pectin (a natural thickening agent) and I really like the results. Making jam is SO easy, if you haven’t tried it you really should! A lot better than the stuff in stores loaded up with corn syrup (though mine is just loaded up with sugar…).

Fresh Blackberry Jam

• 3 cups fresh blackberries
• 2 cups white sugar (yikes, I know…)
• 2 T. pectin powder

-Start by rinsing your berries and removing any stems or leaves.

-In a large bowl, mash the blackberries with a potato masher until all the huge chunks are gone.

-Add the pectin and stir quickly to combine. You’ll notice the berries thicken up a lot, that’s a good thing.

-Pour the berries into a wide saucepan and heat over medium high heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and stir quickly to combine. Continue to stir constantly, bringing the mixture back to a boil. Allow it to fully boil as you stir for an additional minute. Remove from the heat and let cool for a couple minutes.

-Funnel into a very clean jar or other container. Refrigerate and consume within 2 weeks (3 weeks tops 🙂 ). Makes 20 ounces of jam.

I can’t wait to have this on some warm biscuits!

As you can see, we have berries coming out of our ears. ALL of these things I told you about still haven’t used up all the berries. And that’s alright with me. It’s one of the things that makes summer so awesome.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren