Blueberry Jam

There isn't much of a story here, other than I found myself with at least four quarts worth of organic blueberries from the farmers market and I didn't know what to do with them. Besides opt for the freezer, which was a perfectly good idea.

But then I thought, what if I tried making blueberry jam? I'd never done it before and didn't know how hard (or easy) it was, but in the end it was much, much easier than I expected. 

While I didn't go through the official canning process with my blueberry jam, I'm pretty sure I achieved the same end result. It took all of 15 minutes and now that I've done it, I can guarantee you I will never again buy blueberry jam from the store. This homemade version is much more to my liking and more importantly, has no additives. 

In fact, it only has three ingredients: water, blueberries, and sugar. Four if you count the cinnamon stick.

I've been eating this by the spoonful, drizzled on top of a cracker with cheese, smeared on toast, and even poured hot over coconut ice cream (which, by the way, was the hit of my dinner party with a few girlfriends last weekend). Like most recipes I post here, it's super simple and super quick. 

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1 small jar (1 cup)

Ingredients:

1 cup organic blueberries
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Place blueberries and water in a sauce pan over medium heat, until skin starts to break and juices seep out. Add sugar (you can start with 1/4 cup and then add more to taste, depending on how sweet you want it), cinnamon stick, and bring to a light boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer for an another five to ten minutes. Serve immediately over ice cream, or let cool and transfer to a jar and store in a refrigerator. When storing, leave cinnamon stick in so the flavor continues to develop.