Chesed

Saturday October 2, 2010

By Michelle October 2, 2010 Uncategorized 26 Comments

Yummy

Sticky

Sweet

Sticky

Jam.  Jam.  Jam.  Jam.
 

For the first time in eight years, I cooked jam.  A long, long, long time ago aka fifteen years ago Mom and Dad started a little side business cooking homemade jam.  We started in our regular kitchen using the dining room as our filling station.  It wasn’t long at all until jam took over the house most of the week and we obviously needed a new space.  The jam business got moved to the basement with a commercial stove and huge sinks and life was a little less sticky. 

We girls all took our turns being “employed.”  Sometimes it was fun.  Sometimes it was drudgery.  I liked that it was hard work and you had to move quickly.  I hated that it was so hot in the summer.  Leaning over a 120 degree stove in the stifling humidity of July and getting splattered with jam that boils underneath the surface then shoots up to hit you in the eye is not pleasant.  I sported little battle scars on both arms from burns for a long time.  But lifting 50 lb bags of sugar made me strong and I was proud of my little biceps.

There were days when things went well and we finished in record time with no incident.  There were days when jars overflowed, a case of jars shattered, and kettles overflowed or burned on the bottom.  There were days when we talked and laughed and days when we wanted to scream.  I guess all of life is kind of like that.

I’ll never forget (unless I become senile) the day Mom and I first went down to the local IGA with her cute little basket of four jars of jam to see if they would sell it.  It wasn’t long until there were many, many stores sporting racks of our homemade jams.  And then there was the first day the big truck came from Richmond to take pallets full of jam. 

My days of jam mostly became a memory when I started college until the summer I only did one class of A&P and got conned into helping again. 

Two months after David and I got married (and about two weeks after Christy and Steve got married), Mom and Dad took a three week trip to Europe.  Beth was teaching school, Christy was far away in TX, and since I only lived an hour away, I became the logical person to take over the business.  Things went a little differently when I couldn’t run to the bottom of the stairway and yell for Mom, but overall we survived.

And that was it.  I thought. 

A few days ago Mom emailed to say she’d gotten an unexpected large order and none of her employees could work.  Any chance I wanted to fill in.  Bizarre as it seems to me even now, it sounded kind of fun.  Plus, I needed the cash. 

Liam and I headed over Friday morning at seven.  And we made jam.  Luckily, I got my old job back.  I always, always cooked unless I had no other option, because I hated running the table.  Yesterday no one wanted my job. 

I ran.

Lifted (Sugar comes in 25 lb bags now, though).

Stirred.

Mixed.

Jumped when I got splattered.

And ran again.

Things are a little different then they were eight years ago.  For one, they use these:

I was horrified.  Hand over the huge gloves, please.  But four kettles in, I was hooked.  I love them!  Totally going on my list of things to buy at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Second, the cook also now pre-mixes.  I could not believe this.  I used to be running non-stop just to keep four kettles going and now they cook with five AND the cook pre-mixes?  But when I found out the stove has gotten slow with age it made more sense.  One batch used to take twenty minutes; now it takes forty.   I think the jam cooks better since it’s slower.  I never got close to burning jam and only once got close to having one run over.  Plus, it hardly ever did one of those volcano under the surface numbers I used to get caught in all the time.  You really have to cook jam to get that, but I don’t know how else to describe it.

Third, there are now three people working instead of two.  That’s fun.  Except the exhaust fan is so loud the cook can never hear the conversation anyway. 

Fourth, we almost always made one flavor per day.  Now they do two or three flavors a day.  This is not an improvement in my opinion, but it works. 

Liam was a sweetheart.  He played on the pallets, helped stamp boxes, and thought he’d grown into a giant overnight when Christy let him help pack cases. 

I loved the physical workout of hoisting thirty pound buckets and filling the sugar bin and racing around the stove at top speed again.  Most housework is not exactly a workout and I’m getting flabby.  But none of us girls are exactly pining to inherit the jam business at this point.  

I have never, ever made jam at my house since I’m married.  I’ve made thousands and thousands and thousands of pints of jam in my life.  Strawberry, Peach, Blueberry, Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Damson Plum, Cherry, Red Raspberry, Strawberry Rhubarb … and apple butter.  Cooking 500 pints of jam in a few hours might make me tired, but it does not phase me.  But someday when I grow up, I’m going to learn how to make one of those little batches of strawberry freezer jam.  Because I’ve never done it.  Funny, isn’t it.

And just in case you’re looking for the best jam on earth ….. it’s right here.  In Virginia.  From Roanoke to Richmond and beyond.  And if you’re like one of a number of customers who say it’s so good they want to stand at the sink and eat it out of the jar with a spoon, there is mail order to the rescue. 

Family Fruit Basket Jams …. the stuff your bread dreams of. 

26 thoughts on “Saturday October 2, 2010”

  1. qawzse789

    Phew!! Does this bring back memories of my own jam making days.. looks familiar. We always made 2 to 4 flavors a day, and I always thought we should just do one flavor and do a big day of it.. never worked out. Just before we sold our business we bought a steam jacket kettle.. what an improvement. No more burns, or plops..

    I would have loved to help your mom, had we not been moving.. but to tell you the truth.. I have no biceps and Liam probably would have out manueverd me. 🙂

    I owe you money, I know.. I am sorry.. I also need to get the things from Christy .. Someday, sometime.. let me know when you come to the Burg again.

    glad for the glimpse of your day.. it was fun as usual.

    Reply ↓
  2. qawzse789

    O, and I don’t mean to take over your comments… but I took your mom’s jam to the Assisted living home where I took care of an older lady. I gave one to each of the residents, and they just couldnt’ get done raving over how good it was… but a big request from everyone of them was Orange Marmalade! 🙂

    Reply ↓
  11. srheam

    Wow.  Quite the setup for jam.  I totally know what you mean about the “volcano” like eruptions of hot jam…ouch.  Funny that you haven’t made a small batch ever.  Guess it would be sort of silly after making it in super large batches. The flavors sound very yummy.

    Reply ↓
  13. smilesbymiles

    @qawzse789 – 

    Liam can outmaneuver me, too. 🙂 Don’t worry about the stuff with me … cut yourself some slack and once you’re all settled in we’ll catch up. But what is a steam jacket kettle?

    @totallycherished – 

    Not much. I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible, you know. 🙂

    @DoubleDiamondS – 

    Mom carries Black Raspberry in regular and seedless versions.

    @lovinbloggin – 

    Great idea. Better yet, bagels with cream cheese and jam. Mmmmmmm yummy!

    @lwstutz – 

    You said it!

    @floridayankees – 

    No website but try this phone # 5403371707.

    Reply ↓
  14. appalolly

    Wow! That sure looks like a lot of work. I wonder what would motivate a person to start a jam business, out of all the way to possibly make money?

    I LOVE home-made jam, though. Almost bought some at our local festival yesterday!

    I would love to taste some at the next FFE! 

    Reply ↓
  15. seekinHISwisdom

    Agh, this brought back memories. I worked at the Yoder’s Cider Barn for 4 years, we made jam’s, jellies, and butters. Cider in the fall. Yoder’s cooked in 4 big steam kettles, I had to stand on my tip toes to glance inside. Thankfully I labeled, filled jar’s, packed and stirred- I never actually made the jam.

    It is lot’s of hot work. Enjoyed your pictures. I admire your mom, jamming everyday.

    Reply ↓
  18. redladybug18

    so is this your secret of staying skinny? I’m afraid I’m not sure I really want to be in shape if I have to work that hard 😛 How fun though to get to cook and get your old job back 🙂

    Reply ↓
  20. Esther_lynn

    Just a little secret, making jam in small quanitities is very, very easy and not time consuming at all. I was quite intrigued that you did this growing up but DO NOT make jam in your own home. 🙂 Looks like hard work but i am sure was fun to be with your mom and sister for the day!

    Reply ↓
  22. down_onthefarm

    this is amazing! no. wait. YOU are!!! 
    something about your mom taking her little basket of jam to her first iga store made me think of her daughters,
    just this last summer…with their hands full of books…and hearts full of ??? wonder, was it? about what God was up to?
    i lovelovelove how you all step out on individual adventures…

    i know that i like your tea…can’t wait to try the jam!!!

    Reply ↓
  25. lifeisadance

    Wow, that is *amazing.*  Jam in bulk for sure. And I can relate with the workout part, although not much more! My mom had a little side business of bread making supplies and I was always a little proud of myself that I could easily swing a 50 lb bag of wheat over my shoulder. 🙂 It would not be so easy anyone! Sounds like a fun day you had – as long as it’s once every 8 years, huh? 🙂

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: