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Around November of 2017 I started making my own pumpkin butter. We had been really into the pumpkin butter from Trader Joe’s, but when I went to my local TJ’s in the beginning of November that year and couldn’t find it on the shelves, one of the associates told me it was “no longer in season” and they didn’t have it.
“No longer in season?!” It was November. I was pretty sure that was the only season for pumpkin butter. So I left empty-handed and started looking on the internet for a recipe. I found one from Minimalist Baker that I really liked. Since then, I’ve made it twice a month almost every month (even in summer!). Every once in a while, we sub out the pumpkin butter for some butter and honey, but mostly its pumpkin butter every day.
Last week as the weather was creeping up into the low 80’s in April, I asked myself if we should still be eating pumpkin butter. The answer was no. Enter: mixed berry jam.
My dad has always made homemade cranberry sauce around the holidays, with poppin’ fresh cranberries, orange zest and orange liqueur. I love how citrus-y it is, and sometimes I eat it on toast or mixed in with cottage cheese. I decided on a mixed berry jam using the cranberry sauce method- combine and simmer.
I picked up a 3-pound bag of frozen, mixed berries from Wegman’s and measured out 4 cups of the berries. In a large saucepan, I added 1.5 cups of sugar and let the sugar sit on the berries for 15 minutes. I read somewhere that this helps release some of the berries’ natural juices. I zested an entire navel orange and turned the burner to medium. Once it started bubbling, I reduced the heat to low and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, until it had the consistency I liked. Throughout the process I smashed some of the larger strawberries that I didn’t think were going to break down.
Today I made my egg whites + spinach + cheddar and had my toast on the side. Perfection. Our favorite bread in this house is by far Food for Life Ezekiel regular or sesame. It’s not cheap, but the best tasting in our opinion.
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