I’ve had jam on the brain ever since reading Joy the Baker’s quick jam post.  And then when I received a slew of coupons from Driscoll’s Berries, I had all the motivation I needed to whoop it up.  If only motivation triggered memory, I would have been jamming it up much sooner.  As it turns out, coupons don’t do much good sitting on the kitchen counter…

Joy’s recipe seemed easy enough, but I wasn’t completely sold on the fruit sauce description.  After all, I wanted to make jam jam.  A traveling jam.  The kind of jam you put on a PB&J before packing it up and heading to Barton Springs.

FoodFash Very Berry Quick Jam (yields two – 8 ounce jars of jam)

adapted from Joy the Baker

1 pound of fresh strawberries, rinsed, tops removed, and sliced

1/2 pound of fresh raspberries, rinsed

1/2 cup sugar

juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

In a medium pot, mix berries, sugar, and lemon juice until evenly distributed.  Over medium heat, stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the quick cooking tapioca.  Continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before spooning jam into a mason jar.  Refrigerate until cool.

Ordinarily, leaving out one ingredient and adding another wouldn’t warrant re-posting a recipe; however, the addition of quick cooking tapioca modified both the instructions and texture.  With that said, this jam is GOOD!  It’s sweet, tart, and seedy, and begging to be paired with peanut butter!