Bluberry-Lemon Jam

This year, I wasn't able to harvest my own blueberries. The birds got to the lovely fruit once it began to turn a medium shade of purple. I, therefore, opted to purchase five pounds of blueberries. I gave about half away and still had about six cups of blueberries left. Of the remaining six cups, I made blueberry-lemon jam from the last four cups.

As I stated before, I still can't seem to find my pectin, so I did a little research. I thought that citrus rinds, like lemon, have a lot of pectin in it. Later, I reread the article and discovered that it isn't the rind, but the pith (the inner white part that's underneath the rind) that has a lot of pectin. (You can read more about making your own citrus pectin at this website: http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Preserves/r/Homemade-Citrus-Pectin.htm.) Well, it didn't matter because my jam still turned out great and firmed up. By the way, blueberries have a medium amount of pectin, which isn't too bad. This may have helped to firm up the jam.

The blueberry-lemon combo is actually quite refreshing. I find that the lemon zest really brightens up the blueberry. I also made the jam with less sugar because I wanted the blueberry and lemon flavors to shine through. It is quite a yummy jam.

Low Sugar Blueberry-Lemon Jam

Yield: Approximately 5 half pint jars.

4 Cups of blueberries (if available, substitute 1/4 C of unripe blueberries for 1/4 C of ripe blueberries)
2 tsp of lemon zest (approximately the rind of one medium lemon)
1/4 Cups of lemon juice (approximately juice of two medium lemons)
2 Cups of sugar


1. Put blueberries, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a pan. Cook over medium or medium-high heat. Stir constantly. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn the heat down a bit.

2. Add the sugar, stirring until incorporated. Turn heat up to medium and stir constantly. Stir until jam comes to the consistency you desire (e.g. how firm or soft you want the jam to be). Turn off heat.

3. Let jam cool for a couple of minutes, can the jam, and hot water bath the canned jam.