Pectin-Free Raspberry Jam

Now Hazel has been asking to make raspberry jam since last year. Last summer we made strawberry jam with my mother and then blueberry jam and peach jam after we picked both fruits ourselves. We had picked raspberries, but not enough for jam. When looking for recipes for our post on Gail Gibbons' The Berry Book, I found a recipe for raspberry jam that used frozen raspberries and no pectin at About.com. We bought some frozen raspberries and finally found time to make it over the weekend.

Hazel loved measuring the sugar the night before and mashing them in the morning, but she got sick of stirring pretty quickly. So I got to do most of the work. Then I tried the method of flipping the jars upside down, but left them upside down for too long.

All of the jam was stuck to the tops and didn't fall until I put them in a boiling bath and did the old fashion method. Of course several of the jars did not seal well with my mixed ways of doing it, so we are now enjoying lots of raspberry jam--or at least Hazel is. I am doing a cleanse this week so I cannot have anything with sugar. Hopefully next week I'll get to enjoy some! Hazel on the other hand loves it!

Now with my cleanse, I have been putting chia seeds in my shakes and I noticed a recipe for blueberry chia seed jam without pectin, so we may have to try that one next.