The Wisdom of the Gaucho

What better way to savor the flavor of summer berries than to capture the essence of blueberries and currants at their mid summer peak. Blueberry currant jam is sweet and tart and tangy all at the same time, and both blueberries and currants are nutritionally dynamic foods that should be a part of a well balanced diet. This easy jam recipe will ensure that you have the fresh picked flavor of summer at your fingertips all year long. As I mentioned in a previous recipe for Raspberry Currant Jam , adding currants to a jam recipe means that you don't need to add any additional pectin to get the jam to set properly. Currants are chock full of natural pectin and the jam will set magnificently with no added pectin, using only the naturally occurring amount in the currants. Currants also have high levels of Vitamin C (four times more than oranges), are rich in anti-oxidants, and add a great tart flavor to compliment the blueberries. Here is your ingredient line up: 1 quart (4 cu...

We spend a good amount of time during the summer on preparations to help us get through the winter months. Preserving, canning, and freezing the bounty of the garden not only helps utilize the sudden influx of berries that all appear at once or the dozens of tomatoes that ripen at the same time, but makes winter more tolerable down the road. When you’re in the midst of a long cold winter, like we get here in North Dakota, one thing that helps me cope is to have just the smallest taste of summer. For my money there’s nothing better than the flavor of summer raspberries and currants captured at their mid-summer peak.  It sure helps stave off those winter blues. Raspberry currant jam is simultaneously, sweet and tart and tangy, and both raspberries and currants are nutritionally dynamic foods that should be a part of a properly balanced diet. This simple jam recipe will ensure that you have the fresh picked flavor of summer berries at your fingertips all year lon...