Sweating Three Berry Jam

Three friends together in one extremely hot kitchen making a three berry jam. That was Jennifer, Jackie and I the other day, despite the heat advisories and early school closings.

With only a small fan blowing a bit of relief towards us, the three of us stood in Jenn’s non-air conditioned kitchen over a hot stove boiling berries, sugar and pectin while the dishwasher worked at maximum heat sterilizing jars. That’s probably NOT what the weather man had in mind when he recommended that we stay indoors. In retrospect, our day and our determination to make jam, was somewhat comical.

When we first arrived at Jenn’s house, she nonchalantly pointed out that her sink was out of commission and that all the dish washing would have to be done in her slop sink down in the basement. As we trooped berries down the stairs, Jackie offered to call her trusted plumber, who arrived like the cavalry and within minutes began fixing the kitchen sink.

Out came the aprons as the berry crushing got messy. My friends, who couldn’t have looked cuter in their flower patch prints, would have made any 1950’s housewife proud.
Together, we mixed, boiled, and poured scalding jam into hot jars, hoping that our jam would set. Two hours work, 44 jars later, we had two kinds of jam. When we stepped out of Jenn’s house into the heat wave, it was cool and refreshing after being in a kitchen that soared above 100 degrees.

Our time together making jam was certainly unforgettable. We laughed throughout our sweating. And, with a whole lot of amazingly tasty three berry jam, we’re already talking about next time, when we’ll add a bit more pectin to get a firmer jam.

Friends who sweat together stay together.