{"id":79,"date":"2014-10-07T19:02:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-07T23:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2014\/10\/07\/the-satisfaction"},"modified":"2015-12-15T19:01:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T00:01:09","slug":"the-satisfaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2014\/10\/the-satisfaction\/","title":{"rendered":"The satisfaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early September, a kind reader in north-central Idaho left me a comment. Her name was Michele, and her Italian prune plum tree was promising a bumper crop: did I want some? This kind of thing does not happen all the time, or ever, so I said (yelled) yes. That is how it came to pass that last week, a box showed up on our stoop, containing almost ten pounds of plums cushioned in bubble wrap. I hauled it to the table and let it sit there for a couple of days, admiring it like an expensive flower arrangement, patting it softly like June\u2019s head, before getting down to work over the weekend, freezing a pound of halved plums for cakes later on and turning the approximately eight pounds that remained into my favorite, and simplest, jam.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not crazy about most jams\/jellies\/preserves that you can buy at the supermarket. Either they\u2019re too sweet, too far removed from the fruit they once were, or they\u2019re the type that markets itself as low-sugar, which usually means that the flavor is flat, vaguely brown-tasting. Bah. If I happen to be in a market that has high-end, small-batch jam, like June Taylor<\/a>, that\u2019s a whole other story. That stuff is incredible: clean-tasting, softly set, full of bright fruit. (Santa Rosa Plum and Tayberry Conserve!!!) But it\u2019s also so expensive, so so so expensive, that I can\u2019t bring myself to use it in my, or my child\u2019s, peanut butter sandwich. I feel more inclined to use it as currency than to actually eat it. That\u2019s why, whenever I can, I try to make jam. I can make it exactly the way I want it. And the satisfaction! THE SATISFACTION<\/i>!<\/p>\n

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I am not a jam expert. I am also not a canning expert. But almost ten years ago, my friends Kate and Margot<\/a> taught me their favorite jam formula, which Margot learned from an older family friend in Italy, and between it, a few other recipes I\u2019ve tried, a few cookbooks<\/a> I\u2019ve read, and trial and error, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve figured out.<\/p>\n

1. I like jams that use a 2:1 fruit-to-sugar ratio. When you\u2019re measuring it out, it looks like a terrifying amount of sugar, but stay strong, hold firm, because most of the time, it will yield a jam that\u2019s just right. The sugar not only preserves the fruit, of course, but it plays a big role in drawing out its flavor. Use too little sugar, and the flavor and color will be dull. Jam is not a place to go on a no-sugar diet.<\/p>\n

2. This is a personal thing, but: the best jams are the simplest. You can fancy them up with tea leaves, hibiscus flowers, spices, blah dee blah, but my goal in making jam is to taste the fullest flavor of the fruit itself. The only things I put in my jam are fruit, sugar, and fresh lemon juice. God, I\u2019m a cranky old lady. I annoy even myself.<\/p>\n

3. To check my jam for doneness, I like the saucer test, which I describe in the recipe instructions. Read on. (I should also mention that the jam below looks more liquidy than it actually is. It was sort of sinking into the yogurt. Anyway, the photo above is a better representation of the consistency of the jam, if you want a visual aid.)<\/p>\n

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In short, THANK YOU, MICHELE AND GARY! Kindness like yours is a too-rare thing. We\u2019re going to be eating your plums, in this jam, which is really your <\/i>jam, all winter long.<\/p>\n

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Recipe<\/div>\n

Italian Plum Jam<\/h2>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n
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