Blueberries!

While attending The Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, KY recently, I was invited to try some home made “1812 Orange Liqueur”. While it smelled delicious and everyone enjoying it seemed to love it, I was a bit afraid to try. See, I have celiac disease so I need to be very careful about what goes into my mouth. Even drinks can be dangerous to me. Even though I was not able to try the lovely drink, I was inspired by it. While my friend’s drink was made from oranges, I thought I would give blueberries a try.

It is the end of blueberry season here in Ohio and I was very lucky to find a farm which allowed me to pick the last of their blueberries for FREE!!!! I guess the farm underestimated my determination to pick every last berry. While my kids got bored about an hour in and forced me to leave earlier than expected, I still came out with close to 10 pounds of goodness!

Blueberry Cordial takes around two months to make and I am not a very patient person when it comes to blueberries, so I decide to make a couple of projects that could be enjoyed in the mean time.

Ginger Blueberry Jam

For this recipe you will need:

Large stock pot with boiling water for canning

Pot with extra boiling water just in case

Large stock pot for berry cooking

Mason Jars and funnel

One plate, placed in the freezer

6 cups of cleaned and crushed blueberries

4 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon ginger

*Note*

When blueberry picking with children, expect an hour of cleaning and sorting prior to making your jam. I found that my bucket of berries were mostly perfect while my kids required a lot of work.

AS you clean your berries, smash them with a potato smasher until you have reached six cups. This needs to be six cups crushed berries NOT six cups berries.

Place berries in a large stock pot on low heat.

Dump all four cups of sugar on top.

Squeeze two tablespoons lime juice on top of sugar

Slowly stir berry, sugar and lime mixture

Once the sugar is completely dissolved add your ginger.

*Note*

For this recipe I used ginger powder (because I was feeling a little too lazy to peel and grate the fresh ginger root that is just sitting in my refrigerator) however fresh ginger is even better. Powdered ginger is not as potent so if using fresh grated ginger, you may want to cut the amount used in your jam. I LOVE ginger, so I tend to use the same amount either way. Your choice!

Now that all of your ingredients are mixed into the pot, turn your heat all the way up to high.

*Note*

This is the part where you don’t want to leave the pot for any reason. If left alone, the berries will scorch and ruin. After all that work you don’t want to take any chances!

Continuously stir your mixture until it reaches a gelling point. For me this took about 20-30 minutes and reached just over 200 degrees before this happened. It may take more or less time depending on the amount of juice that your blueberries created.

*Note*

Don’t know how to check for gelling? Its simple, First grab that plate from your freezer. Now drop a bit of your jam onto the plate. The chill of the plate will quickly set the jam. If you can run your finger through the jam and it streaks, you are at the gelling point. If it goes back together, you will need to cook it for a little bit longer.

Once you have reached your gelling point, quickly pour your mixture into your mason jars, using your funnel, leaving about ¼ inch of headspace.

Clean the rims of your jars and lid them.

Place in your boiling water (I use a canning basket to make retrieval easier)

Boil for 20 minutes

After your timer goes off, turn off the heat on your boiling water and let it sit for five minutes.

Remove your jars and sit them upright on a kitchen towel being sure not to move them for 24 hours.

*Note*

You may hear the lids ping as they are sealed. Thats wonderful but if you don’t thats ok too. Make sure that you do not push on the lids to check for sealing. I know its tempting but don’t do it! After your waiting period is over, you may check the lids. If they are not completely down, you may refrigerate your jam for up to two weeks. If they are completely sealed you can store your jam at room temperature for 6+ months.

After you have waited 24 hours, you may enjoy the pure goodness!

Blueberry and Banana Smoothie

For this recipe you will need:

Food Processor or blender

Two small bananas

One cup fresh Blueberries

¼ cup grated coconut

½ cup canned coconut milk

two cups frozen yogurt

This lovely recipe is sort of a cross between a milkshake and a smoothie.

Ever get that bloated feeling after drinking a milkshake? Does it make you feel sluggish and lazy? This recipe is sure to solve that problem. Its light and delicious and gives you a burst of energy. Its super easy too!

1. Puree bananas

2. Add blueberries, puree

3. Add coconut, puree

4. Add frozen yogurt and coconut milk, puree

5. Enjoy!