I thought about writing one post with all my non-gift gift ideas, but I think instead I’m going to spread them out and include one on each post leading up to Christmas.
Last year I made a tomato and chilli jam which I gave to my Dad, I got great feedback on this as it tasted so good.
When preserved properly jams are able to be kept for around 6 monthes which really gave him time to enjoy it and not have to rush through trying and finish it before it goes bad.
The best part of this though was that it was a very cost effective gift. I purchased my jars from a local op-shop and they were going for something like 50c a jar (it’s best of you can get the jars that have the little pop up seal on the lid so then you know when it’s airtight. An even better way of accumulating jars is to save your old ones to use (unfortunately we were not so forward thinking at the time).
The best way to tell if your jam is of the right consistancy is to place a plate in the freezer before you start cooking the jam and periodically put a slither of jam on this leave it for 30 seconds or so and then give it a little poke. If it’s still runny then you know it isn’t quite ready, when it’s sort of sticky (normal jam consistancy) then congratulations it’s time to start canning! This may take a bit of time so have a patient mindset going into this.
I hope this has given some inspiration.
If you want some extra tips taste.com has a nice little list.
Also Google as always has many ideas and recipes for jam recipes.
If you’ve got a good jam recipe or story we’d love to hear it!
Well Friday has come around again and since we’ve now been doing BNN for a little over a week I thought I would reflect on the progress we have made during the week.
Thursday Big Pop did a big clean out of the corner of here bedroom, which has been blocking access to part of her wardrobe for months now (maybe years!) and ended up filling a bag with about 20kg of no longer needed clothing and she was so happy!
Now we have Friday, who knows what today will bring! Mothers Day is coming up this weekend what have you got planned?
I think we have been adjusting really well so far to our commitment to buy local and not be controlled by matierial items and being able to write this list has allowed me to visualise how hard we have been working. Something that did come up during the week which never really got settled was if BNN includes digital items such as apps and ebooks, what do you think?