Honey-Sweetened Plum & Blueberry Jam (gluten-free, sugar-free)

My evening activities of late are no longer a secret, that's for sure.  Yes friends, I've been jamming up a storm. First it was Vanilla Plum Jam. Then it was Spicy Raspberry Lime Jam. Then I made this delicious Plum & Blueberry Jam, using leftover plums and some frozen blueberries (a mix of homegrown and Wyman's frozen wild blueberries).  Then I followed it up shortly thereafter with an Herbed Apple Jelly, which I will share with you if it actually set up correctly and I like it.  I now have 26 jars of preserves, and I doubt I'll end there!

This jam rocks. The flavor is a nice balance of blueberry and plum, and it has a nice thick consistency.  But I think my favorite thing about this jam is the color. Seriously, look at that! That amazing purple blue color yells, "Eat me! Now!"  Just think of all the antioxidants. Wow.

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Honey-Sweetened Spicy Raspberry Lime Jam (gluten-free, sugar-free)

I've been on a jam making kick lately, using honey instead of sugar.  My first batch of jam was an absolutely delicious Vanilla Plum Jam using Italian prune plums from Michigan and freshly scraped vanilla bean seeds. It was a beautiful shade of purple, and had a marvelously sweet, aromatic, alluring flavor that tempted me to lick off nearly every spoon, bowl, spatula, and pot it came in contact with.

I have a mountain of homegrown raspberries and black raspberries  in my freezer, so I naturally gravitated to the idea of making raspberry jam.  But instead of your standard plain jam, I kicked it up with some lime juice, lime zest, and cayenne pepper. It's darn good.  Grounded by the warm flavor of honey, the jam starts off sweet and tart, the freshness of berries and the brightness of lime shining through, then finishes with a subtle heat that slowly warms your mouth from back to front. I saved a little bit to chill in the fridge and eat later, and as soon as it set (which it did very well, thank you very much), I ate it plain with a spoon.  Yum.

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Toast & Jam: Gluten-Free Coconut Flour Bread and Honey-Sweetened Vanilla Plum Jam

Hey friends!

I've been busy lately. Two weddings, a trip to Iowa, a camping trip to Lake Superior and hanging out at Traditional Ways Gathering, nighttime walks around the Minneapolis lakes, gardening, lots and lots of crocheting in an attempt to get an Etsy site set up... I really haven't been cooking much, honestly. Or blogging. Maybe you've noticed (I'd like to think I have readers that miss me when I'm gone...)?  Well, I finally got my act together last night.  I cooked and blogged and now today I publish.  Holy smokes!

I recently came into a lot of honey. I bartered some handmade jar cozies for some honey at the Traditional Ways Gathering, and a friend blessed me with three jars of honey as he was packing his kitchen to move across the country to Berkeley, CA for a new job.  What's a girl to do with all this honey? Especially a girl that really doesn't eat much in the way of sweetener.  Yikes.  I've been eyeing up honey jam recipes for a while, and given my abundance of honey, decided it was finally time to give it a go.  Homemade jam makes an excellent currency in bartering circles, is the perfect last-minute gift, and is so darn tasty!  I especially love plum jam, and grabbed some of the last Michigan plums from the co-op, some lovely little Italian prune plums. 

Canning adventures, here we come!  I had never made honey jam before or used Pamona's pectin, so I was a little nervous. But I set forth with determination, and embarked on my third canning project.

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