Back to Nature, Blackberry Jam

I'm a geek, I've always been one. I was programming and playing on my Commodore 64 before I was ten, I got blisters on my thumbs from playing on my Super Nintendo (I think it was from the Hadouken move), and just a couple of week ago, I dismantle a laptop completly before putting it back together.

Yoda is one of my role model, I quote him at times. I laugh my ass off watching "big bang theory", thinking Sheldon Cooper is kind of cool. And as long as the TV or computer screen won't shine any UV, I'm going to keep my pasty white face thru out the year. I guess you're getting the picture ;)
So it's almost a surprise, I'm not going to talk to you about the Hi-Tech Blackberry, just the regular ones.

I grew up (and still live) in the countryside and went to pick mushroom in the forest with my parents as a child, we used to have quite a big garden and I helped picking up the tomatoes, pickles, raspberries...etc to enjoy them almost on the spot or get them to preserves.

Since, nature and I mostly meet at farmer's market. So when I spent a couple of hours last week with my mum picking blackberries, I felt younger and also more connected. It also gave me a weird sense of pride, making it literaly from scratch, even if it's a bit of work, it's worth it and cost close to nothing.

Blackberry Jam

For 6 to 7 Jars

about 2 Kilos of Blackberries
1,3 Kilos of Sugar
1 Lemon
Water

In a big pan on a medium heat, put the blackberries with about a glass of water and let them cook until it bubbles a little.

Now starts the hard part, I used a very fine sieve to pass the cooked blackberrries thru to get rid of all the seeds. It takes a while but it makes the result better.

I ended up with about 1,5 kilos of fruit that I put back into a clean pan, and added about 1,3 kilos of sugar aswell as the juice of one lemon. Bring it to the boil. 

Check if it's done using a plate you have put in the fridge before starting: put a bit of jam on the cold plate, place it back in the fridge for about 30 seconds and look if it's taken. You should be able to trace a line by runing you finger thru the jam.

Pour in clean and sterilized jars, lid on and head down. Give it the night to cool down and put in your storage.