Blueberry Day

Today, on a cool, slightly damp day, we adventures out to Adkin's Farm for blueberry picking. The picking was a little damp, but we didn't get hot, dehydrated, or sunburned. And this is the Willamette Valley, so we are used to the damp. The bushes were laden and it was a fun and successful adventure. Rest assured that regardless of what else happens, there will be more pie at this house.



Many of the berries will be dehydrated and frozen. Leftover freezer berries from past years and some berries from today found their way into the jam pot.



After canning nine jars if plain ol' blueberry jam, I decided that diversity is the spice of life. So I added some ground cloves, ground ginger, and chipotle peppers to the pot. This came out fabulous. I think I have a brother and fellow canner out there who wants s PB&J sandwich with this concoction.

All in all, 15 more jars of jam and all the freezing and drying, and we can call this a good canning day.

And if anyone is interested, here is the approximate recipe I created for the

Blueberry-Chipotle Jam

To one standard blueberry jam recipe

add

2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2teaspoon ground cloves
1-3 tablespoons chipotles peppers in adobo sauce, ground smooth.

Start with a small amount of the Chipotle and adjust the spice to taste and heat desires. Remember that it is easier to put spice in than take it out!