In a Jam, Part Deux

Well, I stumbled upon a store that had blackberries and raspberries on sale, so I picked up 4 cups worth of each and made about 16 jars of jam, 8 of each flavor. The raspberry thickened up nice and quickly; the blackberry took forever. I just pulled the blackberry out of the water bath but I'm not sure yet if it will firm up. They are pinging nicely as they seal, however.

I also got my aunt's pickle recipe the other day, so I started pickles today. Wow, 7 lbs. of cucumbers makes a LOT of pickles! I will need to buy more jars for this! She said she adds red bell pepper strips to them for flavor and because it looks nice in the jar. I've had pickles that had pearl onions in them and love them pickled, so I went ahead and dumped a bag of frozen pearl onions into the lime water with the bell peppers and cucumbers. We shall see how it all turns out.

I never really knew what lime did. It's a super light powder, lighter in consistency and texture than cornstarch. And it doesn't seem to like dissolving in water, and settles out rapidly. I ended up having to transfer some cukes to another container (cukes that already had lime water on them) and my hands feel like mummy hands! They are tight, dry, and shriveled up. I remember in chemistry lab, they always said not to ignore what happens by mistake, that you may learn something from it. I've learned today that lime sucks the water out of whatever is in it. In fact, I nailed my chemistry lab final exam identifying the "mystery substance" when I accidental spilled some on my fingertips. I panicked, worried it was some kind of battery acid or something. So I quickly wiped my fingertips off on my jeans, and discovered my fingernail polish came off, too. Hello, acetone! I spent the next 2 hours basically proving my suspicions, and was correct. Both rubber and microwaves (used to cook with) were discovered by accident. So I guess it's good to pay attention, even to mistakes.

So now my cukes and veggies are soaking in lime water. After 24 hours, I will rinse them off, then let them sit in clear cold water for 3 hours, Then I will soak them overnight in a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and pickling spices. Making pickles looks like it takes about 3 days; I never knew that before. I knew big dill pickles sat around awhile, but not sweet pickles. I'll report back in a day or two and let you know how it's all going.