Strawberry Jam

On Monday night I tried my hand at making homemade jam for the first time. I found the recipe in one of the spring editions of Bon Appetit that my mom gave me the last time J and I went home. I had read it on the plane and knew I wanted to try it.

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The recipe is seriously so easy! (to get the full details, click on the source link for the top picture to be taken to the Bon Apetit site.) Basically you quarter some strawberries and throw them in a pot with suger and a grated granny smith apple.



You bring the pot to Medium-Low heat stiring so the sugar doesn't burn until it starts to melt.

I cheated and used a potato masher to squish everything up but the strawberries eventually get soft enough that you can just use a spoon if you'd like.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to reduce for about 10-15 minutes. I don't think I waited quite long enough but since it was my first time I errored on the side of caution. I didn't want to ruin it! Here it is coming together quite nicely, starting to look like real jam!

Once it's done you transfer it to a jar or bowl, thankfully I saved an old spaghetti sauce jar that worked perfectly for the amount that I made. You let it sit for a little while and once it's cool enough to handle you cover it and put it in the fridge.

*Please excuse the crappy cell phone pictures. As luck would have it, right as I put the pot on the stove and took a picture of Ollie eating a straberry, my camera battery died. And I couldn't exactly wait for it to charge since the stove was cookin!*

I tried the jam the next morning and it was absolutely delicious. J tried a bite of it and said "that tastes like the real stuff! It's bomb [dot] com!" I can't wait to let other people try it and to possibly try different variations of it. I'm thinking a mixed berry might be amazing. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries maybe? Or an orange mango possibly? The options are endless.

So tell me friends, have you tried something new in the kitchen lately? 

Breakfast Recipe

I'm normally a huge breakfast fan... of any kind. Omelets, pancakes, breakfast burritos, pastries, yum. Give me any of it (and a latte on the side) and I'll be a happy girl. But I've been having a weird obsession with muffins lately. Just ask J. Starting Friday I would wake up and ask him to bring me a honey oat (or zucchini walnut) muffin to me in bed. Unfortunately, we had no muffins so this morning I was on a mission.

I must make some muffins!

When I was at the grocery store yesterday the blueberries were on sale. They're never on sale! Buy 1 get 2 free, yes please. So I pulled out my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and made a new version of the classic blueberry muffins I've made many times before.... Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Muffin Batter

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 large egg

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. fresh/canned/frozen blueberries

Streusel Topping

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbs. firm butter/margarine

[1] Mix milk, oil and egg until blended.

[2] Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder at once. Mix until moistened. (make sure not to overmix)

[3] Fold in blueberries

[4] Combine dry streusel ingredients in small bowl.

[5] Cut in butter with pastry blender or two table knives in opposite directions. Should be clumpy.

This is how my streusel was turning out. I don't know if my butter was too firm or if I'm just horrible at using two knives to mix but it clearly wasn't working for me.
I decided to just have at it and stuck my hands in the bowl. I basically kneaded the ingredients until it was all mixed (and the butter clumps were gone) and I think it came out great. Messy, yes, but it did the trick.
[6] Fill muffin cups with batter and sprinkle each with about 1 tbs. streusel mix.

[7] Bake at 400*F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

[8] Remove immediately from pan and let cool

[9] EAT!

It is not my fault if you are drooling at this point. I'm sorry.

They turned out absolutely fabulous. They have just the right amount of crunch on top from the streusel and are warm and gooey on the inside. I love how much better fresh blueberries taste compared to frozen ones so if you can splurge (or catch the sale) I highly recommend the fresh ones.
I was able to make 16 medium sized muffins (the recipe said 12). Now the hard part is going to be not eating all of them today. I promised to bring a few to class tomorrow to share and I have to stick to that! I'll limit myself to a few or three and know that I can always make more later.

Happy muffin Monday everyone!