Jam

Did you guys see that episode of Friends where Joey is obsessed with Jam? Here is a little clip to remind you.



That's EXACTLY how I feel about jam too. NO KIDDING. I love jam. And my mom makes the best jam in the whole world. It's Blackberry and the berries are fresh. Usually picked that day. Whatever we didn't use in a cobbler or in a pie we make into jam. See, I'm from the Pacific Northwest and blackberries basically grow everywhere you look. It can be annoying when you are trying to walk to school and then your jacket is snagged by a blackberry bush. I've lost many an article of clothing that way.

But the nice thing is that there are whole patches where they grow and they are free to the public to go and pick them and eat them. My Grandma's back fence has a sizeable growth and her neighbor's has even more. It's worth every scratch you might get to get those berries.

I had two grandmas named Grandma Bingham and we designated one as the "swimming pool grandma" (because she lived in AZ and had a pool-Duh!) and the "Berry Grandma" because she lived in Eureka with rows of blackberries out back. And when my mom wanted to get rid of us so she could talk to the adults she would ask for some containers and we would go out and pick berries. Truthfully she never had to force us out because we would ask to go out there on our own. And of course OF COURSE the berry picking rule is this: put 1 in the bucket and then put 3-4 in the mouth. So when my mom called us in to show her our "spoils" we had black/purple teeth and tongues and only about 7 berries in the bucket. Good times. No wait, GREAT TIMES!

So back to this Jam that my mom makes: It's heaven. It's so good. The best is on a piece of homemade bread that has been toasted (Holy crap, my mouth literally just watered as I typed that!!) Jules and I would make the toast, and use a SPOON to apply the jam. Why a spoon, you ask? Well, with a knife, you just put the jam on the bread with no fanfare. But with a spoon, you use the back of the spoon to spread it, and then whatever is left over in the concave side of the spoon is yours to lick off. It's the rule.

So you use the spoon for one piece,and then you lick the spoon. And then you use it for the other piece and again, you lick the spoon. (YES, there is double dipping in my house. Wanna make somethin' of it? Fine! you can't have any of my jam!!) And then you stick the spoon back in the jar one more time for good measure and lick the spoon for the last time. You basically aren't making the toast for the bread: it's all about the jam. You need a vessel to bring more jam to your mouth, and a piece of toasted bread is the easiest/most delicious option. Trust me. We've tired many different jam conveyances. Toast is the awesomest.

There has been a line for jam in my house before. If you use the last of the jam and there is no more, expect one or more of your siblings to ask for a "bite" and then chomp off half the piece of toast with the jam. There is no mercy when it comes to blackberry jam. We love the stuff.

So my mom made some Strawberry/Blackberry jam with my nieces and nephews when they were in Eureka the first week of July. (The majority of the blackberries aren't ready until late August, so that's why she had to use some strawberries and couldn't use all blackberries.) Anyway, she makes this jam and brings back 3 jars of it here to Utah. These are not big jars. These are like 1 1/2 cup jars. What is that? like 250 mL? Anyway, they are not big. She had one for Marcelo and I , one for Jacob and one for Nate/Denisse. She didn't get Julie and jam because she didn't have enough, and she figured that Julie was going to Thailand and wouldn't use the jam up before she went. I think mom forgot about our devotion to jam. But oh well.

So she SAYS she loves all her kids equally, but apparently when that love is translated into jam, one person is left out. But Julie went to Thailand and I don't think she was none the wiser about the jam. So my house has 3 jars of jam. Mom keeps trying to tell me to take the jam to my brothers. She put them on top of the fridge so that they would see it and remember grab it when they left. They didn't. And then we moved. And then Jacob moved to Vernal. And Nathan is a WHOLE CITY AWAY. I didn't know what to do!!

I'm lying, of course. I stole their jam. Maliciously, deliberately, and without regret. I stole it. And Marcelo and I ate nearly 3/4 of a jar of it today on our waffles that we had at 11:00 pm. AND IT WAS WORTH IT!!! Oh man. There is one jar left. The only reason it's still here is because I'm trying to eat less, so I don't have bread in the house anymore. If there were a slice of bred here, you'd better believe it would' have jam on it in an instant.

When I go to Eureka this week, I'm so excited for the berries and the berry jam. I might even make enough for some SPECIAL people to try. Then again, I might just eat it all myself. We'll see.

P.S. How many times did I use the word jam in thins post? Holy crap, I think I like jam a little TOO much!!