 Our young refrigerator got very, very icy in the freezer section. It looked like snow every time we opened the door and the fridge was barely keeping things cool. We proceeded to clean it out and defrost it as one must do occasionally. After it had successfully defrosted we turned it back on only to find that the compressor would not work. Since then, it did kick back on, however this refrigerator has given us trouble for the entire 5 years we have had it. So we have ordered a new and different fridge that we are pretty excited about. It comes later in the week, so we had some food in the freezer that we had to get rid of, or eat immediately. What does one do with a ton of frozen blackberries, and a big bunch each of frozen strawberries, frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, and frozen apples? If that person is me, she makes jam. How to Make Freezer Broke JamAdmittedly, this would have worked a lot better with pectin, but since I had none, my jam is a little oozy. I’m not planning on entering any county fair jam competitions, so I’m okay with this. Also, you could warm it and eat it over pancakes too, so it does double duty. Step 1: Take all the fruit in your freezer (or fridge, or yard) About 4 quarts in total and put in a 5 quart pot, blending up anything with peels, or fruits that may not break down well after cooking with a little water (quarter cup or so). I ended up blending up all my apples (with peels) and peaches (without), and ladling out some chunks of berries after cooking a while and blending up most of them. We don’t care for super chunky jam, but if you do, feel free to blend less and keep it as chunky as you like. Step 2: Add your sugar to your fruit. I added 7 1/2 cups of sugar to this jam. If you want to add pectin now is the time for that as well. Step 3: Cook until it starts to thicken up quite a bit. My jam reduced by around a quarter when I got impatient and called it done enough. Step 4: Ladle hot jam into hot, clean jars or containers. Let it cool completely, then put it in the freezer (Thankfully we have a deep freezer and our regular fridge was working by then again.). Or, if you prefer, boil your jars in a water bath canner following the proper guidelines to make it shelf stable. I have canned jam before and it’s not too much trouble, but this time I ended up putting it in the freezer to save the extra steps. We got 8 and 1/2 pints of jam out of this batch, which is enough to last us quite a while. Step 5: Put jam on hot homemade biscuit, eat, and repeat. 
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 Some nights when you get home from work, put the kids through the shower, help fix supper, eat supper, and finally sit down, the only thing you want is to go to sleep. Other times, all you want is a piña colada. Last week I had the urge to get out the vita-mix and turn the super-ripe pineapple on the counter into something delicious with a blackberry twist. To make a lava flow, you have to make two concoctions and pour one into the other to get the swirling effects. If you don't care what it looks like, just throw a few blackberries into your piña colada and call it a day. Blackberry Swirl Recipe: 1 small carton of blackberries (about 1 cup) 1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice 1 cup of ice Sugar to taste (start with 1/4 cup and then see if it needs more) Piña Colada Recipe: 1 Pinapple cut up 1-2 Ripe Bananas 1/2 Cup of thick coconut milk 1 cup of ice Sugar to taste (start with 1/4 cup and then see if it needs more) 1/4 cup orange juice (can add more for non-alcoholic smoothie version) 2 shots of rum (about 1/2 cup)  Directions:
Blend up Blackberry swirl. Feel free to adjust amounts to your personal taste (and leave me good suggestions in the comments!) Pour into another container or glass. Next blend up the Piña Colada Recipe, also adjusting amounts to your liking. This recipe is just a starting off point! Into clean glass, pour about 1/4 full with blackberry swirl mixture. Fill the rest of the way with Piña Colada. Add a straw or drink umbrella and enjoy! Makes about 4 servings I made mine without rum first then added some to mine after the kids had some. They showed their approval with an empty glass, and so did I. |
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