jammin' & jellin'

Last year, mom made some jellies and jams while I was home.

This year, she made a new kind of jam using the loquat. Loquats are called biwa in Japanese.

A nice thing about houses in Hawaii, is that most people have fruit trees. Our neighbor has a loquat tree, so we picked the loquats on our side of the wall and mom made jam. (By the way, in Hawaii, as long as stuff is on your side of the wall, you're allowed to pick it. This is the "rule of neighbors" as I understand it. Nothing is written down, but "you just know".)

After making the jam, we shared one bottle (there were only 2) with our neighbor and she was impressed. This jam was tart from the lemon juice that mom put in, but the texture reminded me of apricots. (Another "rule" is that whatever you make with the "stuff" you've received, you share with the person that gave you the "stuff".)

Depending on the type of fruit, mom makes jams or jellies. Like if a fruit tends to have worms, she'll make jelly from the fruit so that she can strain out the pests.

Here are some other jams and jellies that mom made before I came home and some while I was home.

Poha is Hawaiian for cape gooseberry. We used to have a poha bush, but now mom gets her poha from one of our "aunties". (In Hawaii, we call many non-related people, but family friends, "aunty" or "uncle".)

Surinam Cherry, she's made this before. And I think she got these fruit from a friend.

She also made Ohelo, this is related to the cranberry and only grows near the Volcano area on the Big Island. Ohelo is the Hawaiian name for it. I remember visiting Grandma's and stopping on the side of the road to pick these berries. Mom got the berries to make this jelly from the "aunty" that gave her the poha.

Do you make your own jams and jellies? If so, or if not, what is your favorite?

Have a nice weekend!

we're jammin' and jellin'

Remember I posted about the beginnings of making strawberry guava jelly here? Well, she hasn't had time to work on that jelly yet, but has done others.

After writing that post, mom received some regular guavas. She cut them and scooped out the seeds.

Then zapped them in a food processor.

She then cooked the puree with some sugar and lemon juice to get guava jam.

When sealing the jars, she always puts a layer of paraffin.

She also received some frozen surinam cherries. If you've never tasted these, they are quite tart.

After heating them, she strained them in a sieve.

The juice was then heated with some sugar and lemon juice.

And after it jelled, they were put into jars, ready for a layer of paraffin and are now awaiting to be sold at the Taste of Hongwanji.

Hope you are having a great weekend!