September 10th, 2008 - Revising my thoughts on jam
I recently realized that a tablespoon of jam will cover as much bread as a tablespoon of butter…and has about half the calories! I think I’m going to make some small batches of jam, starting this weekend. Or maybe I’ll work on the fresh produce this weekend, since I have some jam in the fridge and the pantry and save jam making for when the garden is done. But still, I’m getting inspired and delighted by jam again!
Of course, this means you can’t butter the toast THEN put jam on. It’s one or the other. And half a tablespoon of jam appears to be the perfect amount for my sourdough bread (which is higher than my whole wheat bread, so one slice is much larger). I thought it wouldn’t be nearly enough to taste as good as butter but it is! And saves me about 40 calories on breakfast.
One of the jams in the fridge I made last fall. It was supposed to be apple syrup, made from apple cider. But I cooked it just a tad too long and it appeared to have turned to jelly. All winter, I kept thinking that I should try microwaving it and see if it would soften enough for ice cream…but I never did. So I finally pulled it out yesterday and realized it was indeed the perfect consistency of jelly. And it tastes really quite yummy! (Cooked down apple juice can replace pectin in many jam/jelly recipes, so it makes sense that I ended up with jelly instead of syrup.) Perhaps I shall have to make more this fall–I didn’t use any sugar at all so it’s healthier than other jams, but it also made very, very little. I don’t recall how much cider I started with but I think it was 2 cups. There’s less than half a cup (maybe even only 1/4 cup) of jelly.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm EDT
I too eat my homemade jam instead of butter on my whole wheat toast every morning for breakfast. It is so yummy on homemade wheat bread, I am sure on your sourdough as well. I just made up some apple-maple jam that is just so good and also some strawberry. Next is cherry-almond and then banana nut bread jam. Doesn’t that sound great?
September 18th, 2008 at 12:18 am EDT
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September 21st, 2008 at 12:25 am EDT
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dave