i made jam!

and not to toot my own horn but it's probably the best jam i ever made. of course, since i'm not the neatest of cooks it looked like i committed berry homicide on my stove before all was said and done.

i combined a few different recipes from my ball home preserving book and came up with something i called devil's black forest jam. cherries, cocoa powder, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. it's a pretty even tie with the apple rhubarb i made last fall. you open the jar and the first thing that hits you is the smell of cherries and chocolate, then you bite into it and you mostly taste cherry (while smelling the chocolate), and a tiny little zing. the pepper's not really noticable; it's more of a "hm, what is that?" taste to it. heaven. i plan on eating it on toast, in a grilled cheese and jam sandwich (probably with monterrey jack or brie, swiss is probably too strong and mozzarella too weak), over ice cream or angel food cake, and baking it on pork chops or chicken.

want a picture?

yum. and yes, i'm keeping the recipe a secret.