Blueberry Jam!

I bought a whole bunch of blueberries at the store this week because they were only 98 cents for a small package. They weren't getting eaten as quickly as I'd anticipated, so this morning I decided I wanted to try my hand at making jam! I also have some small red berries (elderberries I think?) that Kevin's mom picked from the bush in their garden that I thought I'd throw in as well. I searched online and found this recipe (complete with pictures) on how to make blueberry jam, and it seemed easy enough (I only wanted to make one jar, so I didn't need all that extra canning equipment), so the boys and I got started! Here are the boys "smashing" the berries,

and in this picture you can see all the ingredients (blueberries, red berries, Knox gelatin, a little sugar, lemon juice) except for the apple juice that I used in place of the bulk of the sugar.

"Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble." (I thought that was appropriate since my twins were helping me here... A little too evil? Halloween is coming soon, gotta prepare early! :)

Isn't it a lovely color?

And viola! Just the perfect amount for my little round pot:


I did taste it while it was still pretty warm (I can't help myself!), and it has a nice subtle flavor not hidden by a lot of sugar. It still has a little of that tartness, and you can even tell there is just a hint of apple in there. It's amazing that I was able to produce the exact amount I wanted (a little guess work on the ingredient portions on my part), and still have it taste about what I was aiming for. Yeah me!