Last minute, easy holiday jams for gifts or entertaining
plus two jam-adjacent recipes for feasting
Hey friend, all I want for Christmas is for you to share the news of my substack with your friends! In fact, I’m offering 20% off all subscriptions, including gift subscriptions until 2024 with this link. Maybe you know someone who would appreciate it? As always, I really appreciate your support of my work. I hope you find peace and joy and lovely people to share the best food with over the holidays!
Rubies of the Pines
It’s the last week before Christmas and all the holiday festivities that follow. If you are in need of a quick and easy- dare I say never-fails?- recipe for homemade gifts or your own entertaining, I’ve got you covered. I don’t know about you, but when I want something that screams CHRISTMAS and FESTIVE, I want it to be RED! I always associate strawberry preserves with the Christmas season because my parents had a friend who would always give them to us for Christmas and my mom always use them to fill the center of this big cheese ring mold for holiday parties. Now, on the best of years maybe I’ve put up enough strawberry preserves for gift giving, but usually my supply is already dwindling. Maybe you didn’t put up any. Do not fear. What if I told you the QUEEN of red berries is plentiful this time of year at your local grocery store? Might you reconsider the cranberry? It has so much potential far beyond the canned jellied version that accompanies our Thanksgiving tables.
Maybe you squirreled away some berries this summer when they were at their prime. They’d be lovely in this jam. Frozen berries straight from your grocer’s freezer also make delicious jam when combined with cranberries, and the pectin power that they lose in the freezing process is made up for with the cranberry’s mighty punch! I promise you no one will ever suspect you didn’t put these up at peak harvest season!
The red berry jam is so cheery and perfect for the holidays that I’ve even when my Farmer’s Daugther jam labels called it “Merry Berry” or “Red Berry” jam, in the kitchen we all referred to it as Christmas Jam. It hits all the right notes for cheery gifts for teachers, friends, hosts, and more. Plus, at this time of the year when some of us are inundated with more than we can eat in a week, this jam won’t go to waste. Even if you take the easier route and make the fridge stable version, it will last well into 2024 thanks to its acidity and sweetness. Just add biscuits or croissants for the laziest of holiday breakfasts. Make jam ham (recipe below) or thumbprint cookies (linked below) or even add a little dollop to some bubbly for a sparkling glass of “jampagne” to ring in the New Year.
Cranberry’s Savory Side
Not everyone has a sweet tooth, and the cranberry excels on the savory side of eating as well. Spiced berries have long been a traditional accompaniment to meats and game, which is how they came to associated with Thanksgiving dinner. That led me to pairing them with my other favorite red preserve for holiday entertaining, pepper jelly or jam. When combined with peppers, cranberries make up for pepper’s shortcomings by providing much needed acid and pectin. So much pectin in fact that you can make your own pepper jam without even buying a box of pectin powder, which can be trickier to source in the depths of winter. I’ve given a recipe below with the ubiquitous jalapeño, but feel free to use your favorite hot pepper. I utilized the local favorite Long Hot pepper in making my most recent batch, which I just sent out to all my Founding Member subscribers for a little taste of Philly. I’ve also included a recipe for my favorite Cranberry Jalapeno (or Long Hot) cheese ball that I’ve already got ready and waiting in my refrigerator for visitors and snacking all week.
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