Best Berry Jam

I have been lucky enough to grow up in a home with an amazing kitchen and a mom who isn't all that keen on using it... This lead to making my own birthday cakes from age 12 (I didn't fancy the one I got for my 11th birthday) and generally being free to make a mess and experiment. I have made many batches of jam under Ouma's watchful eye - she still makes marmalade and rusks whenever we're running low!

Over December I visited a berry farm in Swellendam (gorgeous place!) and bought a bunch of frozen berries... I didn't even think of making jam until I got back to Cape Town a week later - usually frozen berries get eaten in minutes but somehow these ones managed to escape!

I didn't have a recipe but stuck to the basics. Here goes:
 
Mixed Berry Jam Recipe

500g blueberries

500g raspberries

1kg youngberries

6 granny smith apples, grated

15ml lemon juice

2kg sugar

The method is quite simple. Place all the ingredients in a very large heavy bottomed pot over low heat. At the same time, place a saucer in the freezer for testing the jam to see if it's done. Once the sugar is dissolved in the berry juice, bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Stir constantly - the jam will bubble up to about double the original volume and could boil over if you're not careful. Once the colour of the jam has changed and it's looking like runny jam (15-20min) test a little on your chilled saucer - I made notes on testing jam with my strawberry jam recipe.

Bottle in sterilized, hot jars. I close the jars whilst still hot to ensure that they seal properly and have stored jam for over a year without a hitch (mostly, however, the jam only lasts a few weeks before it is devoured by friends and my hungry family)

Simple Knitting Project

Ever since I can remember (and my mom can rememebr, in fact!), my Ouma has been busy with either a knitting or crochet project (or ten!)... Since she lives with us and is quite an influence in all of our lives, a little bit of her rubs off every once in a while! I have shared a few projects which she's had something to do with and this one was no excpetion. Wonderful as she is, my dear Ouma feels it necessary to forcefully offer advice when it comes to my handiwork... Nothing major this time around and I managed to gently get her to understand that I needed my own personal twist on this one!  

My inspiration came from a trip to the yarn shop to buy supplies for Ouma to make blankets - she makes about 40 knee rugs for retirement homes every year which means a few trips to various wool shops! :-)

I think it turned out quite gorgeous!

I found the most divine cotton knitting yarn and couldn't resist buying enough for a few projects! My motivation for making a baby jersey is nothing exciting I'm afraid... It's just that making a jersey for a big person takes so darn long and I'm prone to making mistakes along the way - I figured a baby was less likely to notice the errors than an adult would and they certainly wouldn't be in a position to put my jersey in the back of a cupboard to be forgotten! I searched online for a pattern I liked and this was the second one I tackled... The first one is about 50% complete but I decided I didn't really like the shape of the jersey so I started on option 2. I will finish the other one now that this one is done and post pictures shortly! This jersey is called the "bellflower baby hoodie" and is available free on Lion Yarn's website which you need to sign up to gain access. I didn't use Lion yarn but the cotton is double knitting. I used size 3.5 needles for the ribbing and size 4mm for the rest.    

How cute is this hood?! I'm in love!

The buttons came from billabong pants and shorts I've bought through the years - I thought they added a little character!