Friday, August 19, 2011

it was a bread making and jam making kind of day

 the day before yesterday i had plans to make jam
but the night before that
i was over at my parents house and spotted some freckled bananas
just begging to be made into banana bread
so how could i refuse?!

the girls and i baked the banana bread together
(we used this simple and yummy recipe--you can never go wrong with martha!)




when the batter was ready to go into the oven
it was time for me to start the jam
every time we go berry picking
i always say that i am going to make jam but never do
this years' berry picking excursions resulted in an over abundance of berries
so i almost had no choice but to make jam! we had so many berries!
i was a little nervous because it was my first attempt at jam making
i used this recipe which looked easy enough
i made my jam

and right when the jam was almost ready
my oven timer went off


yum! banana bread right out of the oven is the best!


i had just enough time to slice the girls  each a piece
before i had to ladle the jam into mason jars


because of the canning process
i had to wait 24 hours before i could sample the jam
i was so excited that when i woke up in the morning, 
the first thing i did was go downstairs to look at the jam
i toasted some english muffins up 
and the girls and i sat down 
to taste the first batch of jam i have ever made!
boy! was i nervous until zoe said
"it's so yummy mommy!!"


yay! once i knew that they tasted yummy
i packaged up a few to give to family and friends




it was seriously so easy and so fun to do!
i have enough berries to make another batch
which i plan to do closer to christmas and hand out as gifts

if you want to make your own jam
i used this as a canning resource and there is a link above to the recipe i used
Also, a big thanks to Therese and Becky for your "jammin' tips"! they came in quite handy.

13 comments:

simplyvonne said...

i love banana bread but i'll just be honest..i dont bake..i'll cook but im horrible at baking!! :D

have a great weekend!

Small Burst said...

This looks great, Jozen! I'm so inspired to make jam now!

Jodi Ann said...

I don't have any berries to make jam, but I have about 12 freckled bananas that should be baked into bread. I'm totally inspired...your bread and jam looks amazing.

Becca said...

banana bread is one of my favourites! i've always wanted to try making jam, perhaps i will after seeing how simple the recipe is.

p.s - the jam jars looks lovely

Elisse said...

Thanks for sharing these recipes! Gonna try the banana bread!

mandyface said...

I LOVE jam. Have you seen the FRIENDS episode w/Joey and the jam? Its kinda like that, but less messy ;) You're jam jars are so cute with that fabric!

Anonymous said...

how cute and lovely backing with your little girl! have a lovely weekend sweets! xoxo

Hope you had a chance to enter my Last Day of Giveaway today!!

http://some-kind-of-style.blogspot.com/2011/08/giveaway-of-sheyna-moonstone-earrings.html

xoxo

Thelma Frayne said...

Soooooo much fun. I want to make jam. Yours is packaged so lovely.

La Dinette said...

What a sweet blog and pretty lil family you have! We prpobably share two passions in life: cooking and our families!
I'm a new follower!
I too have two daughters!

Eloïse, from France.

Brandi said...

Your jam looks so beautiful! I haven't done any jamming this year yet. I think I may have to go pick some raspberries and peaches and make a raspberry-peach jam. Perhaps this time, I'll figure out how to make it low-sugar and to can it so it lasts for a few months too. And I can never say no to turning really ripe bananas into banana bread either. You've so inspired me to get baking today!

Tang said...

I love how you packaged the jam! So cuuute.

Becky said...

They look so cute with the fabric -- I may have to add that to mine come Christmastime!

Therese said...

Jozen how lovely of you to mention me in your post. I'm chuffed to pieces.
Shall be making that banana bread when I'm back home and am also going to be doing gift baskets as Christmas presents for family this year, I think they are so much nicer than bought gifts.