#< 45 min

[yummilily]

Jam (40 min)

I have to admit, I grew up a spoiled child. With a grandmother single-handedly supplying the entire town with jam, I never had to resort to the store-bought kind until long after she passed and all her stock was used up. Fortunately, she taught me well. And what better time to put the skill to use than in summer with a plethora of in season fruits at your disposal? The results of a few minutes suffering the heat of stirring in a bubbling pot are well worth the effort in my opinion. 

Equipment:

A large pot (and I really mean large, you don’t want this to be more than half full)

Clean jars and fitting lids

A timer 

A small plate / bowl that easily has space in your fridge

Funnel (optional)

Oven mitts or a dry kitchen towel

Damp cleaning cloth (or something of the sort)

Ingredients:

These are highly customisable. Depending on the type of sugar you're using, you’ll need up to 1.5 kg of fruit / 1.5 L of fruit juice per 500g packet of gelling sugar (essentially just regular sugar with pectin mixed in). The main difference regarding the sugar is its intended ratio to the fruit. The most common ones I’ve seen are 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 (sugar:fruit). Other than the jam’s sweetness (obviously) the kind you use will influence how shelf-stable it is. The higher the sugar content, the longer you can store it. That being said, I normally use the 1:2 and I’ve never once ran into the issue of the jam going bad before it was all devoured. (That being well over a year when making a large batch. Some of my grandma’s have been forgotten in the cellar for almost 10 and they still were fine. Just trust your eyes and nose when opening up a jar. And label them with the date made.)

It’s perfectly fine to use frozen fruit. Just let it thaw before you get started. 

I recommend adding some lemon juice (about 1 lemon per kg). It helps with thickening the jam and is especially important when you’re using very sweet fruit. The gelling sugar usually has some citric acid added, but I find that adding the fresh lemon helps. Also it offsets the sweetness a bit.

Other than that, go wild! You can add spices, herbs, liquor (you might want to add that after cooking though)... Just make sure you keep the ratio specified on the sugar and you’ll be just fine!

Instructions: 

If you’re using fresh fruit, wash it well, pat dry and cut into small pieces. If you prefer a smooth jam, you can blend it. 

Add all ingredients to a large pot and mix well. Make sure it’s only about half full max. 

Now, most gelling sugar package instructions will tell you to let everything sit for at least a few hours, but honestly, I find that it doesn’t really make a difference to skip this step if you’re in a hurry. It won’t hurt to wait, but it won’t ruin your jam if you don’t.

Before you start cooking, you’ll need to sterilise the jars. (And don’t forget the lids either!) There’s many ways of doing this and a quick online search will give you many results, like putting them through a hot cycle in the dishwasher. Because I don’t have one, my go to method is to first give them a good scrub and then rinse them with boiling water from the kettle, leaving them upside down on a clean kitchen towel until filling. Getting them up to temperature now will also prevent any glass cracking when filling with the hot jam.

While stirring, bring the jam to a boil. The bubbling kind, you really want this going. Once it does start your timer. In most cases it will be 4 minutes, but check the package instructions for specifics. Make sure to keep stirring, you don’t want anything getting stuck to the bottom of the pot.

The jam might produce foam (hence the big pot). If you want to, you can remove it with a spoon, but that’s mainly an aesthetic thing. (Theoretically, the trapped air could contaminate the jam and make it go off faster, but I have yet to witness that happening.)

Once time’s up, reduce the heat to low and spoon out a little bit of the jam onto a plate and put it in the fridge. This is to check if the gelling worked. The jam should start to thicken quickly when cooling. If it’s still too runny, boil it a little longer. If it’s too thick, add a little water. 

When you’re happy with the consistency, remove the pot from the heat and start filling the jars. I do this holding the jar in one hand with an oven mitt (because this will get uncomfortably hot very quickly) ladling the jam in with the other. If the opening of the jar is very small, a funnel can be helpful (make sure that is also sterilised!). Fill it up until just about the brim. Now, if there’s any spills, wipe the screw-top clean. You’ll thank yourself later when you try opening it again. Tightly close the jar and place it upside down.

Repeat until you’re out of jam. I always have an odd amount left that isn’t quite enough for a whole jar. That’s fine though. Simply eat that first.

Allow the jam to cool for about 5 minutes before flipping the jars.

Enjoy!

Notes:

While the sugar content certainly plays a role in preserving, the most important thing is that all your utensils are clean. It’s a bit of work, yes, but ending up with mouldy jam would be worse, right?

[shehzadi]

tonight we die as a family, mohammed el-kurd

[english on the left as published in the poetry review & translated into urdu on the right by @/smuntahaali on instagram]

[neishroom]

Cleo and Manny moved to Brindleton Bay after deciding it was a better move for their family and careers. Manny has never lived outside the West Coast and is a little apprehensive, but he managed to get a promotion that allowed him to relocate!

[fenneqy]

more more more!

[ink--theory]

moment of respite

[captain-flint]

You make Stede happy. / I'll never leave you. I'll never leave again.

[squuote]

pathways

[autochops]

Strahm.

[fortheloveofaussiegrit]

(Channel 4)

[myokk]

💘

[yummilily]

Caponata (40 min)

I’m not Italian, so I hope I don’t mortally offend someone. But this is how my mum makes it and for a lack of a better word, I’m going to stick with calling it Caponata. It’s a great dish for summer, because it tastes just as good cold as it does straight from the pot! 

Equipment:

Stove

Medium size pot

Ingredients:

~400g eggplant (that’s like two big ones)

2 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomatoes, diced (400g)

400 ml orange juice

1-2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

2 handfuls raisins

2 tbsp Italian spice mix (basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary…)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cut the eggplant into ~2cm pieces, salt thoroughly and let sit for about 10 minutes. Rinse off the excess salt and squeeze out the water.

On medium-high to high heat, coat the bottom of the pot with oil and once hot, add the eggplant. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the garlic and fry until fragrant, then add the tomatoes, juice and raisins.

Reduce the heat to low, season and let simmer with the lid on for about 25 min or until the eggplant is completely soft.

Enjoy!

Notes:

Usually, I just eat this as is with some bread on the side, but pasta / rice also works!

[handweavers]

there's something always kind of funny about being left on the bus when the driver goes on a break like don't mind me legend, return whenever

[theusernameiwantisntavailable]

Lights out

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they’re having fun i swear

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[dustykneed]

3+1: three times jim, spock and bones pressed each other into walls in sticky situations...

and one time they didn't need an excuse to do it anyways 😉

prompt fill for @mcspirkevents' mcspirk bingo prompt "why would you..."