Yesterday morning, I hopped on a plane. Destination? Chicago! I’m in this lovely city for the next week, offering canning demos and signing books all around the city and surrounding suburbs. I was at the Botanic Garden this morning for a 10:30 am demo (after I was done, I had the good fortune to walk around the garden with a friend in the glorious weather). The rest of the schedule for my Illinois stay can be found here. Now, some links!
- Quick pickled beets.
- Raising the bar – A fabulous piece about the food preservation program at Bar Tartine.
- Strawberry rhubarb refrigerator jam.
- Strawberry lychee jam.
- Mulberry jam.
- Rhubarb whiskey sour.
- Lime oleo saccharum (lime zest syrup).
- Preserved labneh.
- Buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb compote.
- How to strain yogurt.
- Whole wheat milk bread.
- Dilly bread.
- Focaccia.
- Warm kimchi cheese dip.
I’ve got two giveaways to close up tonight! The first is the All-Clad D5 giveaway that launched two weeks ago. The winner there is #77/Sherri M.
The other is the Broth & Stock giveaway that ran last week. The winner there is #119/Joyce Almeida.
I’ll be back tomorrow with another giveaway, so stay tuned!
I am having the hardest time getting a good set for my strawberry jam! I’ve tried the Strawberry Vanilla jam recipe in Food in Jars (with thermometer and pectin), I’ve tried the small batch recipe on your website (no pectin, once with thermometer, once using the spoon test instead), and both turned into an almost-solid strawberry gel. The first recipe I tried was Darina Allen (no pectin, spoon test), and that turned out a super-sweet, syrupy liquid. Any suggestions for landing somewhere in between the two extremes? I burned through a LOT of vanilla beans trying to get this right. :/ Tastes great in the pan! But tears holes in my bread. 🙁
I’m so sorry that you’re struggling so much. Unfortunately, strawberry jam is one of the tougher jams to get right and it sounds like you’ve tried every approach that I would have recommended, so I’m sort of out of ideas.
Perhaps check out the version I posted last week that uses Pomona’s Pectin? It doesn’t cook particularly long and you don’t need to use a thermometer, so that minimizes the risk of overcooking (which is what is happening with your overset jams). I find that it always finds the set sweet spot.
than you! i will give the Pomona’s approach a go – next year 🙂 thank goodness blueberries have come into season now. SO much easier and practically goof proof. they always seem to turn out delicious!