One year ago today at this time, I was busy preparing to walk down the aisle and marry my best friend.

Happy first anniversary, Nick.

I’m feeling quite domestic (ha ha).  Last night, I made my first attempt at making home made jam…

My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother have always been talented when it came to canning things and making jellies and jams.  I grew up watching them make it, but till now I’d never had any interest in trying it myself.

I discovered wild blackberries growing in the field next to our apartment.  The bushes were just loaded with berries, and over the last week they’ve ripened from bright red to a rich, dark purplish-black.

I had no idea how to go about making these berries into jam.  I knew I needed to get jars, and some sort of “stuff” (Sure-Jell fruit pectin, it turns out) to make it thicken.  Thank goodness for the Internet, and mom’s phone number on speed-dial!

I made a small batch — eight half-pints worth — and it actually appears to have set up  properly!  I’m hoping to get a chance to make homemade biscuits this weekend because there are few things tastier than warm biscuits with sweet, fresh jam on them.  Mmmm!

Now I’m thinking about making some blackberry pie, if I can collect enough berries.  I’m also thinking about trying to get some strawberries to make jam with too!