Raspberries

Raspberries

I saw her sitting in the grass staring at the thorny stalks. I could almost see the mechanisms of her brain figuring out how to get the plump, crimson spheres out from amid the thorny branches littered with green. Her tail was wagging.

Oh how I love the cluster of small fruits with stones called raspberries. Raspberries are a member of the rose family and grow with thorny stalks similar to roses.

Raspberries in season force our attention, growing with juicy red abandon in back yards, parks, mountain trails and by lakes and cottages. In fact they grow wild in much of the Northern Hemisphere and in some Southern parts too.

 Dollops of raspberry jam sticky and dripping between my fingers is an early childhood memory.

Between July and October, prime raspberry growing season, the tasty crimson spheres can be popped in your mouth, warm from the sun and sweet from their prickly stalks, picked by the buckets full at U Picks or purchased in bulk at your local grocer or farmers market.  Raspberries the quintessential Canadian fruit are important for their abundance, comparatively low cost and their variety of uses.

Use your salad spinner to gently wash and dry them. Lay them out on a towel lined jellyroll pan to finish drying. Too many raspberries to eat? Freeze in a single layer on the jellyroll pan, when frozen remove to an airtight plastic bag and store in the freezer. You can pull them out by the handful. Or for making jam or smoothies you can freeze clean berries together in a mass in airtight plastic bags. If I’m too busy, or don’t want to make jam in the heat of the summer I freeze them and pull them out to make jam on a cold winter day bringing the heat and sunshine of summer back into our kitchen. I like to make raspberry jam with frozen cranberries harnessing the pectin in the cranberries to gel my raspberries. I also add fresh lemon juice, giving the jam a sensational burst of flavor.  I am attaching my raspberry jam recipe.

 Our Austrian grandmother, Oma, has a huge patch at the lake in Ontario, the grandkids encouraged to eat and pick berries for desserts. We have a small patch in our Alberta back yard and bike rides in the mountains of British Columbia are stopped abruptly when approaching a wild patch.

I want to share with you the things I do with raspberries, besides popping them limitlessly in my mouth and making jam.

I add them to baked recipes like brownies, scones and cakes.  Simply fold the berries in at the last moment, trying not to crush them. The Fast, Yummy Brownie recipe from Cook—You Can Cook Fast Healthy Meals For Your Family is scrumptious with a handful of fresh raspberries folded in at the last moment.

For breakfast fresh raspberries on your cereal raise it up a few elegant notches, or toss them into your morning smoothie with yogurt, fresh mint and a few squirts of fresh lemon juice. Simmer raspberries with a little sugar and lemon juice then add to raw oats and milk, soak overnight in the fridge and wake to a Swiss breakfast delight.

Make simple syrup with raspberries for cocktails or simply drop a few fresh or frozen berries into your favorite cocktail or glass of bubbly.

For savory raspberry delights sauté onions and garlic in butter then add a couple of handfuls of raspberries and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. The sauce is perfect for oven roasts on cold wintery days or bbq fare on hot summer days. Or make raspberry vinaigrette for your salads with crushed raspberries.

For dessert whip them into creamy ice cream or simply top fresh berries with whipped cream. On a cold winter night slice up whatever fruit you have on hand and drizzle with a little raspberry jam for an easy healthy dessert.

As I stood watching her stare at the thorny stalks, she gently reached in and plucked a perfectly ripe berry from between the thorns. A few days of watching proved to me that not only did she avoid the thorns; she was also leaving the green berries alone until they blossomed into perfectly red sweet ones. Lilly our black lab mix is a smart Gal.

Here’s to a Happy New Year and the sweet taste of raspberry jam in your home.

Simply Pure Cran/Raspberry Jam

Makes: 14 cups jam

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

6 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen

2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

9 cups sugar

¾ cup fresh lemon juice, approx. 4-5 lemons

¼ tsp salt

Order of Events

1. 
   Fill a large canner with water and bring to a boil over high heat.  You will heat your clean jars in the water before filling them with jam and you will process your jam in the canner after filling your jars.

2.   
  Put your lids and screw bands in a separate small pot and heat to just below a boil. You want them hot when you put them on the jars of jam but you do not want to boil them before you put them on the jars of jam.


3.   
  Place raspberries, cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 15 minutes. Continue stirring. The raspberries will fall apart; the cranberries will pop their skin.

4.    
Remove from heat and skim any foam off the top of the berries with a stainless steel spoon.


5.    
Fill clean hot canning jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Cover with hot prepared disks. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Turn off heat. Let jars stand in canner for 5 minutes. Lift up rack. With canning tongs, transfer jars to cooling rack; let cool undisturbed for 24 hours.