Andrews Scenic Acres Rhubarb Raspberry Jam

This is the second of two jams I got from the pick-your-own Family Fun Farm Andrews Scenic Acres. I was intrigued by this jam because it wasn’t the more traditional strawberry and rhubarb combination, which works well and is a combination I enjoy and will enjoy, rather it was rhubarb and raspberry. Strawberries and rhubarb works well because they grow and mature together at the same time, so they say, and raspberries come out mid-summer, after rhubarb is gone. Like the rhubarb-strawberry jam, the ingredients are just rhubarb, raspberries and sugar, so very little sugar, more fruit, and no added pectin, and I like that it is rhubarb first in the ingredients (normally it would be the other way). Too, the jam says “Prepared For”, which I’m okay with, as long as it’s good, but, like the rhubarb-strawberry jam, this jam is just okay, though I do like the combination of rhubarb with the raspberry, and would look for this combination again.

Andrews Scenic Acres Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

Andrews Scenic Acres is a large farm with fruit orchards and other vegetables (a very large list); you can either buy from them or pick your own; they also have animals, wagon rides, playground and other fun things for a child to do. My beautiful Bride and daughter went there during the summer, to pick strawberries. When they were there, they also picked up for me some jams made with rhubarb. This one is rhubarb strawberry; they also bought one that has raspberry. The ingredients are just rhubarb, strawberry and sugar, so very little sugar, more fruit, and no added pectin, and I like that it is rhubarb first in the ingredients (normally it would be the other way). I thought, though, that they made these jams themselves, but I see on the label “Prepared For”; hopefully, they at least used fruit from the farm. The jam itself tasted okay, not really fresh, and not a strong rhubarb or strawberry flavour.

Crofter's Organic Pomegranate Jelly

I'm not really a fan of jelly, I'm a jam fellow, but I am starting to enjoy pomegranates, not only for their flavour, but also for their healthfulness; they are high in antioxidants. So saying, it'd be hard to create a jam out of pomegranates, they're mostly seed with a little bit of juicy flesh around them; better a jelly. The ingredient listing looks good, pomegranate juice from concentrate, golden sugar, pomegranate juice, fruit pectin and citric acid.

How did it taste? Well, I'm still a jam fellow, I would say, this hasn't convinced me to join the jelly supporters, and the pomegranate is not as flavourful or tasty as eating the raw fruit. But, it's still a good spread that I could enjoy occasionally.

Royal Roselle Hibiscus Jam

One thing we got at the International Pavilion at Carassauga this year, Malaysia was there this year, was jam made from Hibiscus or Roselle. I like that the main ingredient is not sugar (though that is second), but, like most jams, this is fairly sweet, and not so tart as making it into juice, though still good tasting, with the tart taste of the roselle very present. This is called Royal Roselle, I wonder if this is meant to be according to the recipe for the Royal family of Malaysia.

Crofter's Wild Blueberry Premium Spread

Like the other two I have tried, Blood Orange and Strawberry, this one has a good ingredient listing (organic wild blueberries, organic golden sugar (made from cane sugar), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid) and features 1/3 less sugar than conventional jams, but I saved the best from Parry Sound, ON, for the last, because this one contains wild blueberries, my favourite fruit (while there is no indication of the origin of said wild blueberries, let me tell you that Ontario produces some of the finest blueberries of the wild kind, and I have eaten my fair share of them - though not enough, there's never enough).

Opening the bottle reveals the heady scent of those blueberries, and I was more than hopeful that they had done themselves proud with this blue offering. And it does taste good, the best of the three, though, for me, I can eat them as they are, straight off the bush, but this is another way of enjoying them.

Crofter's Organic Strawberry Premium Spread

Having tried their more unusual product, Blood Orange Spread, this one is more conventional. Again, this spread has 1/3 less sugar as commercial jam, and its ingredient listing looks good, organic strawberries, organic golden sugar (made from cane sugar), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid.

How does it taste? Not as sweet as commercial jams, certainly, but still good, with lots of fruit throughout (you can see I've already consumed a fair bit).

Crofter's Organic Blood Orange Premium Spread

I like blood oranges, and look forward to them every Winter, now that I discovered them, so I was interested in this jam I found in the Organic section of Loblaws (I think you can find this particular brand in most health food stores). Not only is the jam organic, it has 1/3 less sugar than conventional jams, and has a high fruit content. Ingredients, other than blood oranges, include golden sugar (dehydrated cane juice), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid. So far, so good.

Regardless of how healthy it purports to be, it's no good if it doesn't have excellent flavour. This definitely has the taste of blood orange, and smells really fragrant and tasty, which I like very much, though there is an underlying bitterness to this jam that spoils my enjoyment and makes we wonder if it would taste better with the missing 1/3 sugar.

Update: I've eaten two blood oranges in the last couple of days, one was sweet, the other one was slightly bitter, similar to the underlying bitterness I was talking about. Still, I'd say go with a little extra sugar.

Strawberry Jam

Later, in the evening, in between the time I came home from work and the time I ate dinner, I made this strawberry jam. As Jamie would say, easy-peasy. The hard work is cutting off the little green leaves. Scrunching them with your hands feels kind of interesting, but you can probably use a potato masher if you want. What you get, is a thickened strawberry jam, that you can put on bread, mix with yogurt, drizzle over cake, lots of uses. Eat it quick, store leftovers in the fridge, likely though, this won't last long.

Strawberry Jam
adapted from a recipe from Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home
1.5 kg strawberries, already cleaned and the stems cut off
400 g cane sugar
1 vanilla pod

Put the strawberries in a large shallow mixing bowl. Sprinkle the cane sugar on top.

Mix until the strawberries are well coated with the sugar.

With your hand scrunch up the sugared strawberries until they turn into a rough mush and are still pulpy, and the sugar dissolves.

Slice the vanilla pod open with a sharp knife, then, with the edge of the knife, scrape out the vanilla seeds within. Add vanilla seeds to the strawberry mixture.

Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and bring to boil; turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam during the cooking process.

Let cool and place in a sterilized jars.

Les Comtes de Provence Organic Black Cherry

Jam to me should be high in fruit content, with less sugar and few other ingredients, this particular one, made from black cherries (I have seen lots of other fruit jams they also produce), from the French company Les Comtes de Provence, is quite delicious. The only issue I had with it, is that there were still some stones in there. The ingredient listing is great, organic black cherries, cane sugar, fruit pectin and concentrated lemon juice.

D'Arbo Fine Rosehip Spread

One of my favourite jams is made from the fruit of the rose, called rosehips or rose haw. The rosehip is very high in Vitamin C, and can be made into teas (I enjoy very much rosehip tea, really my favourite tea), jams or jellies, soup, and even mead. This spread from the Austrian company D'Arbo, is quite tasty, I enjoy it very much on bread, though my beautiful Bride thinks it tastes a little like tomato jam.

President's Choice Twice the Fruit Strawberry Rhubarb

I love the combination of rhubarb and strawberry, the tartness of the rhubarb pairs wonderfully with the sweetness of the strawberry. Indeed, the rhubarb is harder to eat without it. The two come out about the same time of year as well, perhaps they are meant to be together. Most of the time I have it in pie form, strawberry-rhubarb pie is delicious. Too, I like it when made into jam, and now I see that President's Choice has come out with a new entry to their Twice the Fruits jam product line, Strawberry Rhubarb. And it tastes quite good, and brings back memories of pies I've enjoyed. The only thing I don't like about this jam, is that sugar is the first ingredient, I would have preferred to have fruit first. Not that there isn't lots of fruit, it's very thick with fruit pieces.