We have decided to take part in some of the County Fares and Food Shows this year. I have been making jams, jellies and chutneys for about seven years now and did well when I sold them on our street markets.
I am wondering if any of you have a favourite jam or chutney recipe that you would pass on.
I made some summer fruit jam yesterday, it was basically made with some frozen fruits that we had in the freezer, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, black & red currants and it was lovely. Hubs said it reminded him of the jam his gran used to make.
Then it occurred to me that lots of us have grans and mums who made stuff to remember.
My rhubarb and ginger jam was a big hit so is my strawberry, plum and blackcurrant.
This time around I have made some pineapple which is the most fiddly stuff I ever did but so worth the effort.
I have made mango chutney, rhubarb chutney and red tomato chutney and relish.
I know it’s early to start but our first Food Show is in May at Ewood Park so it’s jars jars and more jars and sweet jammy dreams.
It sounds like the WI all over again,I used to like the WI,all singing Jerusalem to start off with.I was going to join here but it wasnt the same as Cabus WI.
No, UJ we are going local the longest journey for us will be to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Then there is one at Scorton and one in Garstang and Eccleston. They are local but big. I love this sort of thing and when we sold in Silloth and Wigton Cumbria we had so much fun. Our biggest ‘gig’ was at Penrith which was a huge market but like all markets people are losing interest as they can buy things cheap in the shops or on line.
We decided to go to these shows as we do have a lovely selection of really lovely jams and chutneys that I have collected recipes for over the years and people going to farmers markets are looking for this kind of thing.
I do hope you can come up with a favourite jam or chutney. I have today concocted a rather nice grapefruit, ginger and orange marmalade. Tomorrow it will be more pineapple jam and during next week I hope to get hold of some rhubarb for chutney and rhubarb and ginger jam.
Oh drat!!! Was looking forward to tasting your produce too. The Grapefruit, ginger and orange marmalade sounds interesting, but regrettably am not allowed Grapefruit (on medical grounds) as there is something in it which impacts upon my rat poison (Warfarin) medication.
I have heard of that. I don’t usually eat grapefruit but they had some for 33p in Aldi, I had some root ginger that needed using up and was about to make a batch of marmalade so thought lets give it a go. The pink grapefruit gave the whole thing a bright colour and this morning it looks like a really good set. Today I am hunting for rhubarb to make rhubarb and ginger jam and my famous rhubarb chutney.
I also got four more pineapples to make some more pineapple jam as tasters tell me it is lovely. Still on my diet of course so am relying on tasters at the moment.
Disappointed that no one on the Over fifties forum has any recipes or ideas. However, if not many people make the stuff then I should be able to sell it as I know lots of people particularly men even young men like homemade stuff. Reminds them of their mum or more likely gran.
I’ve never made jam, Cate My mother used to make her own but it was always the ‘straight’ fruit variety eg apricot, strawberry, plum or blackcurrant. I’m afraid I never followed in her footsteps, wish I had given it a try though
Back in the 50s us kids(my sisters and I) used to go picking blackberries from the hedgerows and fields around our house. We’d bring them back and Dragon used to make Blackberry jam, stewed blackberries and Blackberry pie. Heady days.
Truth is Mags, jam making is not the black art that the ladies of the WI would have you believe. If you can follow an easy recipe you can make jam. As long as you have your trusty thermometer you can’t go wrong.
To be honest, I rarely eat jam as I find it too sweet, now marmalade is something I would eat at anytime … I like something with a bit of a bite to it.
I did try fig jam when I saw it for the first time, I found it very pleasant but not something I would crave for.
Good luck with your jam and chutney making Cate, I’m sure it will sell well for you.
Thank you Mags, I don’t eat jam myself and I bet your fig jam was a bit on the sweet side. I do make a pretty good marmalade, orange, lemon, orange & lemon, orange ginger and grapefruit and my biggest seller orange marmalade with rather a lot of dark rum in it. I call it Cap’n Bligh after the rum which comes from St. Vincent.
Oh this brings back memories. I remember when I was young my little brother and I used to be dragged the 2 mile walk to Knaresborough market once a year by our grandmother to help carry bags of Seville oranges home for the marmalade making. Her house used to smell of the delicious aroma for a week. One of the other expeditions we used to make was the picking of the crab apples for making crab apple jelly. Now that was a delicious jam. I remember fondly the sight of the apple mash hanging in the pantry being strained through an old pair of stockings lol. Hard to find nowadays is crab apple jelly, I found it in a couple of speciality shops, but it doesn’t taste the same. I’m going to my mothers today to finish off putting her new fence in. I know she has grandma’s old recipe book so I’ll get you some jam recipes.
Oh wow thanks Chippy, I’ve been making Strawberry today and have cut up some rhubarb to make rhubarb and ginger tomorrow. I am going to put a message on freecycle to ask if anyone has any apple trees that we can go an pick the apples from. Last year we saw so many apples being left to fall and rot it made me so sad cos all I saw was loads of jellies and jams going to waste.
Crab apples make great pectin that you can add to soft fruit that doesn’t contain any and that makes it set.
I must admit the house certainly smells good most of the time a bit vinegary when I am chutney making but even that makes you feel hungry.
Home made jam is special nothing tastes the same because it is made with no preservatives, colours or flavouring it is all natural but bloomin hard work.
Ok I got the one I promised, but time ran out on me to copy any more out. I’ll get more tomorrow as I’m back painting the fence I put in.
Crab apple jelly.
8 cups of crab apples
3 cups of white sugar
wash the fruit and chop each apple into 1/4’s
put into jam pan and add water till you can just see it but not so the fruit floats.
Bring to the boil and reduce to a medium heat for 10 minutes.
DO NOT STIR. The more the apples are moved around, the cloudier the jelly will be.
Strain the liquid from the apples through strong pair of pantihose.
You should end up with about 4 cups of liquid.
Return the liquid to the stove and boil for about 5 minutes then add the sugar.
Boil the mixture till it reaches 220 to 222 degrees F
then put into jars and seal as normal.
There is an addendum that a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg added to the initial boiling adds a nice flavour.
It must be brilliant doing something like that, Cate. Just make sure you’re legal though lass when you’re selling it. You have to have a licence to sell home-made food-stuffs otherwise you’ll have the Food Inspectors on your case. Check out Food Inspectors on the TV section of this forum.
You’ve taken the joy out of what I am doing. I have all the hygiene certificates and all the insurance. You can’t do large shows without them. Yesterday when I had spent the day making strawberry jam which is hard to get to set a male friend said ‘what do you do? go to Asda and buy jam then put it in your own jars’. This was a supposed friend I really am fed up with people not being as happy for me only pointing out the negatives. Did this programme point out that several large supermarkets have been closed because of filth. Why people only look at Chinese Restaurants or small burger vans to find dirt is quite remarkable. You have no idea what is going on when you buy a sandwich from anywhere, this is not cooked and therefore any germs or bacteria just go straight into your stomach. Ice cream men are another group that annoy me. Touching food that will go straight into your mouth while touching filthy money, they are the people to look at.
my jam will cook at 221f or 105c to bring it to setting point no germs, bacteria could survive and I certainly know enough about hygiene to make sure that everything is done properly.
ChippyThanks for the recipe. I have found one in my WI books for Scroggins Jelly which is what they call crab apples in Northumberland. It is the same recipe but using actual weights rather than cups which is a bit American. I prefer my recipes in lbs and oz still I am a bit of a dino.
All my grandma’s recipes are in cups lol
Mind you seeing her ancient scales it was probably quicker and more accurate to measure stuff in cups for her.
I copied out a couple more recipes today. I’ll type them up later for you.
Some of the recipes I can’t read because her handwriting was terrible and on some the ink has faded quite away.
Am just catching up on your jam making activities Cate. I used to chuck my crab apples in the bin until I noticed that the blackbirds love them, so last year I didn’t throw any away and it kept them going all winter and all that was left were the skins! Just thought I’d share that with you :-D:-D Have you been to the show yet?
No, first one is in May am working like a jam maker making the jam. I am head of production and him in doors is head of everything else including warehousing, advertising and making the jam look pretty. Today I made raspberry jam from some frozen rasps and red tommy chutney. I have made friends with a greengrocer and they help no end. They are giving me fruit which won’t last over the week-end and I am giving them a pot of whatever I make with the fruit.
Do not give those crab apples to the birds, throw yourself in front of them and don’t allow a bird to eat even one. Plus don’t forget the plums and damsons.
Tomorrow is apricot jam and hamburger relish. Sunday, I made some banana jam. I gave some to a young lad up the road to taste without telling him what it was. He thought it was mango with a touch of ginger whereas it was banana with a touch of lime, I am going to add some triple sec to it and call it banana daquiri jam. i am also going to make a strawberry and kiwi margarita.
My mother used to make her own but it was always the ‘straight’ fruit variety eg apricot, strawberry, plum or blackcurrant. I’m afraid I never followed in her footsteps, wish I had given it a try though 
