July 6, 2010
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BLACKBERRY SEASON
If you’ve been my friend for a while, you’ll have read, in seasons past, my rhadpsodizing about making jelly. It’s one of my favorite summertime things to do! I love to pick the fresh fruit, handle it, smell it, admire it, then cook it up, and, most satisfying of all, to hear the jars “ping!” when they seal.
I inherited my love of jelly making from my grandmother, and I inherited some of her jelly-making equipment:
her colander (which she called a “cullender”)….
and her old enamel cooker.
I also inherited her cheesecloth, with which to give the juice its final strain. Unfortunately, about three years ago I had to finally admit that that ancient piece of cheesecloth, tattered and in shreds, could no longer do its job. You just can’t hold on to EVERY old thing, so I threw it away. And try as I might, I can’t find new cheesecloth that holds a candle to the old stuff…they just don’t make it like they used to.
My inheritance from Grandmother is not worth much in the way of the world’s reckoning of value, but it is priceless to me. She gave me these humble items and her love of the process…and, best of all, she taught me how to do it!
Yesterday, I made blackberry jelly. And, though not in body, in spirit my grandmother was with me every step of the way. I could almost hear her say, “When you get all the juice you can from those berries, if you’re still short a little, it’s okay to add some water. Now not too much, maybe one-fourth of a cup, but just a little, to get all you need.” And, “Be sure the rim of the jar is clean before you screw on the lid…you don’t want it to not seal.”
Yesterday while I was crushing blackberries and extracting the juice, my favorite farmboy came in from a very busy morning of working cattle. He sat down in the kitchen rocker with a tall glass of iced tea and watched me. As I worked, we talked about the day and the week. He asked me a lot of questions about what I was doing, and I could tell that he might have a suggestion or two about my work, but this time he kept them to himself, leaving me to be the Queen of Jelly-Making in this household. My farmboy is very good at every thing he does, but I’ve got it all over him when it comes to making jelly! I learned from the True Queen.
At the end of the afternoon, I had 15 sparkling jars of blackberry jelly to go into the pantry. They’ll sit on the counter for 24 hours before I move them, and then I’ll hide them away for a while. Come winter, when the snow flies, a dollop of this sweet, purply-black goodness will taste like the essence of a hot summer’s day, when plopped onto a hot biscuit with a melting slice of butter.
Wishing for you days as sweet as this!
Comments (16)
I’ve been craving some blackberries–when did you pick? And where? Tell me your secrets Mom…it’s time to pass on the knowledge like Grandmother did.
“Kitchen rocker” my oh my, how I’d like to have one, but my kitchen is too small. This entry is somehow very comforting to me as I read it. It takes me back to my grandmother’s large country kitchen during canning season where she perserved the ‘essence of a hot summer day’ in jars.
Mother was a city girl when she married my step-dad. She learned later in life to can and make jellies etc. So good! I didn’t inherit that “gene” or something. Maybe just too easy to buy it. During my high school years I did lots of prep for the canning frenzy that started with dew berries in the spring and went throughout the summer into fall. I have a cullender just like yours.
Cullender—so cute yet so true.
I remember my grandmother, when she made biscuits, in her words, “big as a cat’s head” or “cat’s head” biscuits…with butter and jelly…yummm…I’m hungry!
You brought back memories of my Grandma’s kitchen too. She also had a rocker in the corner by the coal range cooking stove. AND, of my Mom’s jelly making days. She also made beautiful jelly. She taught a Sunday School class of pre teen girls. One year, a particularly good blackberry year, in order to make money for their class projects, she told them the blackberries were ripe and if they’d come and help her pick the blackberries, she’d make jelly and they could take orders and sell it. My determined Mom was also into her third year of fighting breast cancer at the time. The morning came, and she went to the church to pick up the girls, where they’d gathered, waiting for a ride to the farm. Lo and behold, one of the girls had on sandles and shorts!!!! (o;
I’ll be making concord grape jelly soon from the grapes on my vines. I use the pectin that doesn’t require sugar so it comes out more like compote, having only the natural sweetness of the grapes. This is better if you are diabetic. I already canned some green beans and will make dill pickles in a couple of days, all from the garden. My daughter gave me canning supplies for Father’s Day, including cheesecloth. I don’t have any old cheesecloth to compare.
I can smell blackberry cobbler from my great-grandmother’s kitchen in my mind. The women would pick wild blackberries and bake them up.
Great post, wonderful in every way…memories of Grandma, love, food, sweet blackberries, and some pictures, too.
There’s no place I think of the women in my family more, than in the kitchen.
My children picked 6 cups of red raspberries today from the side of the road. I used 2 cups to make a double batch of raspberry muffins and they ate the rest.
OOHH that is wonderful – I’ve been making jelly and jams for 3 yrs now & it’s my fav!!! I just pulled out the last jar of blackberry jam the other day & soon will be making more. Love the sound of the lids going PING too, lol
Mmmmm. I just loved your story and the connection you had with your grandmother and this special treat, time, and teaching moment to remember her by. Thanks so much for sharing!
I do love blackberry jelly! We were able to pick blackberries a few years ago and made jelly, and I think it was the best we’ve ever made! I never knew either of my grandmothers, and my mother didn’t do much in the kitchen, but I intend to change that legacy!!! I am determined to be the grandmother that teaches my grandchildren how to can, sew, etc. And actually, their mother, (my Amanda), and I learned a lot of it together!
Hi! I see we have some mutual friends! I love this about the jelly making. I also looked at your stories of summer memories, that is great!
Wish I could have a jar of that jelly. What a great project!
Beautiful!!
Please let me come spend one summer learning how to do all the fun things you do…canning, knitting, quilting, etc.
My cherry tree is exploding with ripe cherries. I am hoping tomorrow after work I’ll have the energy to start picking em. Last summer I made cherry jam and it was and still is wonderful!
I used to pick blackberries in the early fall back in Oregon. That was so fun. The jam always ended so thick, I often wondered if I should have added the pectin?! My Dad LOVED a fresh blackberry pie!
My 19 1/2 year old son still remembers me taking him picking in a field with the beef cows when he was about 4. The way he ‘remembers’ is more of a nightmare story