Jam Joy!

Yes, Jam! Who would've thought making a small batch of strawberry jam would evoke such feelings of absolutely domestic bliss? Well, I suppose I did have an inkling... I was thinking home made jam would be a nice 'stocking stuffer' this year and the idea was lingering in the back of my mind... Then the unthinkable happened. Strawberries were 98c a punnet! Rarely do they fall below $3 and they looked no worse than normal! This was the time, the obviously ordained moment for my jam fantasies to become a reality. So I bought five punnets and some jam sugar and headed home full of warm thoughts of good things to come.

I had to kind of scrounge around for jars. I had a couple of baby food jars which I thought was a PERFECT size for a stocking gift. Cleaned up a ginger jar and then I emptied out the contents of my almost finished 'rhapsodie de fruits' conserve to accomodate the delightful decadence on its way. I was SO thorough in washing and sterilising the jars on the stove (as you can see in the photo! Proof!) I am sure this puts any would-be recipients at ease. The recipe I used was one from (of course) my domestic goddess cook book, courtesy of the lovely Nigella Lawson. Her food wonders never seem to cease (Nor do mine for that matter)! Strawberries were hulled and cut into twos or fours and into the pot with about the same weight of jam sugar (!) and about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, which apparently serves to make strawberries strawberrier. Sounds good to me. So away it bubbled looking positively glorious! It was probably simmering for about half hour when I figured it was ready, the syrup seemed to have set somewhat. I filled up my jars, all the while smiling with glee at how lovely it looked and would surely taste. Lids on my super-clean jars and in the fridge.

Now there is a really happy ending to this tale. How could it get any better? Well you see, that evening we were having friends over for dessert. I had planned a lovely cheesecake (Nigella express) a refrigerated one that is fantastically good. I was planning to top the cake with the specified 'rhapsodie de fruits' cherry conserve (mmmm) and then I suddenly was struck with the genius and beautiful serendipidy of the situation. I can see you are beginning to put two and two together. I CAN USE MY JAM TO TOP THE CHEESECAKE!!!! Wow. Talk about domestic goddess?! I did have a reasonable amount left over in the pot, it was more syrup than strawberries but still delectable. And so it was. You will have to ask the Garners what they thought of the final product but I can assure you, it was a thing of beauty, not to mention the taste. Linger on that thought as you hurry into the kitchen to start making jam and cheesecakes. It is as rewarding as it sounds.