Raspberry and Currant Jam

We had a great season for berries last year.  Our best yet.  We ate all of the strawberries and a lot of raspberries, but popped a few bags of raspberries and currants in the freezer for later.

Months later--last week to be exact--we were down to our last couple jars of jelly/jam.  Matt pulled the fruit from the freezer, thawed it, and made up a couple batches of some extraordinarily tasty jam.  One batch was a blend of raspberry and currant.  The other was just plain ol' raspberry, which always make me think of my grandma.  It is still not as good as Grandma's raspberry jam (what is?!), but pretty dang close.

After comparing a half dozen recipes from our various canning resources, Matt opted no to use any pectin this time.  Instead he just simmered the fruity concoction down until it was as thick as he wanted.  It has set perfectly and we've already eaten an entire jar.  At Bunco last week I made an applesauce cake and served each slice with a dollop of jam on top.  It was so simple and scrumptious I could hardly believe it.  I ate a second piece even.  I couldn't resist.

I'm so thankful we put in the berry patch pretty much first thing when we bought our house.  It will be five years years here in just a couple days.  Crazy.