Well, I worked for a local farm all summer. Their produce was amazing, and I received the perk of 50% off all of it. I shopped pretty wisely, buying only what I would need that day. After all, I'd be back tomorrow. Produce variety and selection changed throughout early summer to early fall. There were some raspberries mid-summer for $4.50 a pint. Even with my discount and even though they were grown locally, they were cheaper at the grocery store. I was strapped for cash this summer, so I held off.
Enter fall raspberries.
It turns out these berry plants are the ever bearing varietal; the plants produce berries one in the summer and once again in the fall. The fall berries often seem sweeter; raspberries flourish when the nights get cooler. It was the fragrance of the fall berries that got me. Sure, they were beautiful, but I could just look away. Ah, but the scent! There was a pleasant floral, almost perfume-y, fragrance to the berries. And I couldn't escape it. Instead of buying just one pint of berries, I bought four. Now, what the hell am I going to do with four pints of fresh berries? I ignored that question and bought two more the next day.
So, six pints of fresh berries yielded eight cups (I know, a pint is two cups, but the berries were dry-packed). I bought canning equipment and went to town. I followed Food in Jars' recipe. This was not only my first time canning but also my first jam-making experience. Nothing went horribly awry. I might need a deeper jam pot; you have to stir while the berries boil for 15 minutes and there was some hot, explosive splattering all over my hands, arms, and that corner of the kitchen. That was the worst, however, and there wasn't even any scarring. I would up with eight - 1/2 pint jars. This recipe is a keeper. It tastes like the only ingredient is fresh raspberries.
