Making Jam

My neighbor Judi and I went to the farmers’ market, held every Thursday in Sylvania, and bought fresh zucchini, yellow squash, onions, red bell peppers, a large purple eggplant, corn on the cob, and tons of fresh raspberries. What a stilllife! We have lots of tomatoes, green peppers, and herbs in our own kitchen garden, ala Luba's garden (огорад) in Starobelsk. I wanted to make ratatouille and Judi wanted to make jam.

"Can I help you," I asked.

"Sure!"

"Do you boil the raspberries for a long time on the stove and add stuff, like they do in Ukraine?"

"Oh good heavens, no," Judi said. "No boiling on the stove. You just mash the raspberries, add sugar and serta, put the mix in jars, and freeze."

So easy. Jam for the winter, jam year round.

So that started my first foray into making jam. My main job was buying some sugar and mashing the raspberries. And, oh I forgot, you add two teaspoons of lemon juice, too. We filled about 12 jars, and Judi gave me one for my freezer. "Give it a few weeks," she said.

I went upstairs to my apartment with my little jar of jam, feeling quite virtuous. I am cooking up a storm, Starobelsk! Now on to the ratatouille!