We be JAMMING!

It is officially September! How crazy is that? The summer has cruised on by and we are entering the fall season. My parent's house has a bunch of fruit trees growing in the backyard and they bear a ton of fruit each year.

This year, our apricot tree has outdone itself. We had more apricots than any other year before and they were ripening rather quickly. With many spare Costco boxes and other fruit baskets filling up, my mom and older sister had the brilliant idea of turning our big piles of fruit into jam.

For those of you who have never made jam before, let me tell you about this intense process. First, you wash and pit the fruit you wish to use. Then, you add the corresponding amount of sugar to the fruit in a pot and mash it all together. Adding corn starch to some of the fruit and sugar liquid you just created, you start boiling it all together... on HIGH. If you haven't guessed already, this is where the jam making process almost becomes a high intensity sport. You're stirring vigorously to prevent the bottom from burning, keeping the fruit and sugar combo evenly mixed while making sure no big splatters occur. So, at this point, it's been about five minutes. You're supposed to stir the jam while it boils for about 15-20 minutes while it thickens up. Anyways, you've been stirring all this time, your arms are starting to feel the burn and of course the heat from the stove is making you sweat. Next thing you know the jam starts bubbling. It's not like water boiling, where the bubbles kind of stay to themselves inside the pot. No way sis, these jam bubbles pop and attack you with their super hot globs! Injuries can be sustained and so I'll tell you about how to take some precautions to protect yourself.

The relaxed, more brave souls, when stirring the jam

In making jam, I believe that there are two types of people. The first, as shown by my brother-in-law, Michael, is calm and collected. He is not afraid. You may also find that he enjoys stirring this hot pot of danger and he can be seen smiling or whistling a tune perhaps. These people are very brave and unbothered by the potential dangers of hot jam sputtering its chunks of delicious death at your uncovered, unprotected limbs and eyes. It's actually terrifying. I'm not kidding, the fear of being burned is unmatched by any other kind of cooking or frying that anyone might do. If oil hits you, yes it hurts, but if jam hits you, you have a GIANT glob that's stuck to you and there's no where to hide.

The second type is the more cautious, scared if you will, jam stirrer. They take every precautious step to make sure the jam cannot touch a single inch of skin. My older sister, Marie, demonstrates what this type of person may look like. She is ready for anything. If you were wondering which type of jam maker I am, I'll proudly tell you that I am type two. I am not ashamed to say that I will gladly take those goggles and glove to prevent any bodily injury that will accompany making this delicious breakfast spread.

Type two: the most protected from any jam splatter

I AM NOT ASHAMED... just scared

In the midst of stirring, I wondered if this is how the Smuckers family made their jams. Imagine, the Smuckers family all gathered together in a room, frantically stirring all their pots of jam to begin their jam empire. A Smuckers family sweatshop if you will.

Safety is cool

For unsightly reasons, I won't include a picture, but I will tell you that the injuries are very much real. The latest batch of jam we made, we finally reeled Alice into making some with us, and I had finally burned myself. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't invincible until then, they

were just smaller bursts and you can definitely believe that all the Duan sisters were shrieking in terror as the smallest pieces of jam landed on or near us. But, I somehow got a big piece in between my right pointer and middle finger. It somehow instantaneously and simultaneously made a blister, popped and reformed. The pain was real, folks.

Fruit jams made all from our yards!

But in the end you get these really cute and tasty jars of jam! We made apricot jam, plum jam, and white peach jam. I would say that it was worth the risk and I'm glad we learned how to make it. If you would like to take part of this screaming fun, follow the recipe below to make your very own batch of homemade fruit jam! You can make it with almost any fruit you want and the cute little jars are available at Walmart. I got the 12 pack of half pints for about $8.

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INGREDIENTS:

4 cups of fruit (chopped, pitted, peeled for preference)

1 cup sugar (varies depending on sweetness of fruit)

2 Tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Mash fruit in saucepan w/ potato masher

Stir in sugar until juices form

Put in 1 Tbsp juice mixture (or as needed) into separate bowl and add corn starch, mix until well blended with no clumps

Put corn starch mixture back into saucepan

Bring whole thing to boil, stirring the whole time

*As high heat as you can tolerate -- IT WILL SPLATTER A LOT!*

***Remove from heat if you wish to stop stirring and take a rest, otherwise it will burn/ create bigger splatters which will be difficult to resume stirring***

Stir for 15-20 minutes or until mixture is thick and goopy

Remove from heat and allow to cool

Stir in lemon juice

Transfer to container and refrigerate

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Hope you guys enjoyed this post and maybe a batch of jam :)