Thirteen things to think about before you decide to make cherry jam with those sweetened Bing cherries that have been in the freezer for a couple of years...
- They're sweetened. You need to change the amount of sugar even though, on the package, they always tell you NOT to mess with the amounts of sugar.
- Wear red.
- It's not a good idea to try to make jam when your house is on the market and you want everything to look model home clean.
- Keep the dog away from you when you're cleaning up the 5 pounds of sugar you dropped on the floor.
- Don't tell the rest of the family that you managed to put 4 of the 5 pounds of sugar back into the sugar bin. They'll never notice the little bits in there anyway.
- Cherry jam tastes delicious on a piece of toast.
- When you decide that the pectin is not helping anyway, be sure you have 20-30 minutes to stand at the stove stirring the jam, for every batch.
- Check your chin before you answer the door.
- Make sure you have some Kirsch* to add.
- Remember to put the little plates into the freezer so that you can check the consistency.
- Be sure that you have at least 20 little plates available because you have to test often.
- Check the glass jars and make sure that you haven't packed them all away.
- Remember that you have a candy thermometer and use it for all 3 batches, not just the last one.
*I didn't have any but I will the next time, that's for sure.
