Blackberry Jam

Yesterday while I was out grocery shopping I saw really nice looking containers of blackberries and they were on sale for $2.99. I have been wanting to try making blackberry jam. I decided I would buy the berries and make some blackberry jam. I didn't know how many berries it would take to get 5 cups of puree/mashed berries, and so I bought a flat of 8- 12 ounce containers.
I did a google search for a Blackberry Jam recipe as I had never made Blackberry jam before. There are lots of recipes on the internet.
Click here for the recipe I used for my Blackberry Jam recipe
4- 12 ounce containers make a batch
This morning I decided I would make the jam. I washed and drained 4 of the containers of berries and let them dry. I then put the berries into an 6 quart heavy Dutch oven and mashed them with my potato masher. I don't care for big seeds in my jam so I took out my old Foley food mill and ground up the berries.         sterilized jars, covers and lids
 
live and learn....stained fingers and hand..should have used disposable gloves when scrapping puree from food mill and removing seeds
5 cups of blackberry puree after putting fruit thru food mill.
5 cups  blackberry puree and juice of 1 strained fresh lemon in a 6 quart heavy pan
1 package of Sure Jell pectin
adding mix of 1/4 cup sugar and box of Sure Jell pectin
brought to a rolling boil
adding the rest of the sugar (6  3/4 cups) to the puree
continued boiling puree for 1 minute after puree comes back up to a full rolling boil. Test jam to see if it is jelled by dripping some onto a chilled dish. It should drip very slowly off of a spoon and not run on the cold plate.
remove pan of jam from heat and skim foam from cooked jam
sterilized jars, covers and lids
filling sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Place filled and sealed jars in a boiling hot water water bath for 10 minutes.
finished batch...13- 4 ounce jars and 3....8- ounce jars
I will have some of my jam on my toast in the morning.
 I have enough berries to make another batch tomorrow.
Elaine

Magical getaway to Orlando, Florida Disney Disney Parks

Cinderella's castle at night. The lights changed colors..beautiful

daytime
It was so nice to getaway for a few days ( Saturday thru Tuesday) to Orlando,Florida to Disney World. I had been watching the weather before we left and the forecast looked like we would have a lot of rain. Thankfully the reports were wrong and we had beautiful warm, sunny days. Monday late afternoon we had a few brief showers, but we were eating dinner when most of the showers occurred. Our flights to and from Florida on Jet Blue were great and we arrived ahead of schedule both ways.
We stayed at All Sports Resort on Disney property, so we didn't have to rent a car, as we were able to use the bus services to and from the parks.
Huge star in front of registration building.
display huge luggage at front of building

On the way to the park the first day we saw a large flock of Sandhill cranes. Beautiful! I so enjoy seeing all the beautiful birds in Florida.
At all the parks we were delighted to see that all the Christmas lights and decorations were still up. So beautiful during the day, but spectacular at night.
I will keeping adding  photos as I get them downloaded.

 
fireworks with Cinderella's castle in the background

Cinderella


Brave princess Merida
Aurora
Disney Movers and Shakers  Night Parade


We saw the Electrical Parade, but I didn't get photo's as we were eating supper in a restaurant at the time of the parade.
Epcot
illuminations

 
Hollywood Studio's


Rock n Roller Coaster ride featuring Aerosmith
 
Buzz Lightyear ride



I can't believe that I did all the roller coaster and thrill rides (Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and The Tower of Terror)...what can I say about the Tower of Terror other than everyone's hair lifted straight off their scalp and you came off of your seat by 6 inches. Holey Moley!!!!
I took lots of pictures and I haven't had time to download them all from my camera.
Elaine