Peach blueberry chia seed jam

New concept: jam that tastes like the fruit it originally was!

I will now indulge in adverbial musing.

Gustatorily speaking, this jam is superior because it tastes like the fruit it originally was. It has none of that sugar burn that can mask the taste of fresh stone fruits in jams.

Nutritionally speaking, this jam is the tops. The original water content of the fruit is retained (and thus, so is its caloric value). The fruit is not cooked, so vitamins are retained. Chia seeds are nutritional powerhouses.

Economically speaking, I think it's a deal. Chia seeds are on the pricey side, but if you would have used pectin, that cost is gone, and you really don't use that many chia seeds for the jam. Also, it is much faster than other jams, so you have more time. Because you don't cook the peaches down, it makes more per pound of peaches. But then again, you will eat more because it is better than most jams. But then again, if you are eating more of this stuff there is the chance that you will be at the doctor's less. But then again, maybe you will live longer, and that will increase your cost of living. (Clearly I am no economist.)

Visually speaking, you have to overcome the fact that the chia seeds look like bugs. Our first batch had only peaches, and the bugs were especially noticeable. Owl threw in blueberries in the second batch, and that helped immensely. In the end, we went with it and called it "Bug Jam." The owl-cats smiled and ate it.

Historically speaking, this is a rare treat. Michael Pollan says that you shouldn't eat anything your grandmother would not have recognized as food. Well, sorry, Mr. Pollan, but I'm guessing Grandma would have tossed out "Bug Jam." What's more, Grandma had to put a whole lot of sugar in her jam as an anti-bacterial agent. So that's one food rule that should sometimes get tossed.

Blogatorially speaking, we are not original. Everyone out there has a recipe for this stuff (for good reason). Lemon juice may be added to help retain color or for brightness. Some people use fewer chia seeds.

Peach Blueberry Chia Seed Jam (a.k.a. Bug Jam)
A flexible recipe, depending on how much you have. See step 2 for guidelines on amounts.

Peaches
Blueberries (frozen fine)
Chia seeds
Sweetener (maple syrup, agave syrup, honey, sugar--or stevia if you go for that sort of thing, but add less)

0. Wash fruit. Peel peaches (or not--I'm guessing it would be fine with peels if you trust your peaches)
1. Blend up peaches and blueberries.
2. For every 1 cup of blended fruit, add

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds*
• up to 1 tablespoon of sweetener of choice, to taste

3. Refrigerate for an hour to let it thicken.
4. Slather on toast. Eat. Rave. Repeat.
5. Storing: Everything I've seen says this will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator. I am going to freeze some and see how it goes. I don't want to can it, but some have.

*CHIA SEED UPDATE 9/20/13: I made another batch with very ripe peaches. That meant they were more watery. After the hour refrigeration time, I had to add more chia seeds. I checked it again an hour later and it was perfect. Just know that the amount of chia seeds may need to be adjusted depending on the fruit you have. I probably ended up at 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia seeds per cup of fruit.

Musings on canning

Rhubarb pie filling

A few years ago we were at a party with smart people. One commented that she likes to can produce. Her shocked family members accused her of turning "domestic." She just shrugged it off, and said, "I call it sustainable."

And that is how it goes. You can have lush "domestic" canning blogs. Or you can have edgy "punk" canning blogs. And guess what? They both proudly (as do we) put fruits in nice glass bottles and put them on the shelves and eat them in the winter.

But would they talk on the subway?

Food memories from World War II

A few years ago I showed this book to Owl's grandma, who was 13 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. After she looked through the book, she said that they didn't have many of the ingredients listed in the recipes. In rural Utah, those items weren't rationed--they weren't available.

Her dad was the game warden, and she said they often had trout for breakfast.

She also remembered eating

• beef heart with stuffing
• cakes with a jam center that were steamed in cups
• sausage gravy
• her dad's baking powder biscuits with cracklings
• sweet soup made by a Swedish neighbor--a soup with large tapioca, prunes, and raisins

My mother was 5 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. She lived on a fruit farm. They saved most of their rationed sugar for canning and preserving fruit, so she remembers longing for anything sweet. I grew up with dessert nightly (often fruit), and I think that tradition came out of her deprivation as a child.

My father was 9 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I'm not sure if this was during the war or not, but he remembers his family buying shredded wheat cereal for the first time (the big shredded wheat; not "mini" shredded wheat cereal). They couldn't figure out how best to eat it so they tried boiling it. I don't think any of them were impressed.

The monkeys are dead. And we're back.

When I saw this article in the New York Times, I knew it was time to get back to this food blog. For some time (since the 1980s) some researchers (all Puritans) have thought that severe calorie restriction would increase longevity. Such researchers (and other rich people) became scientifically anorexic in hopes that they would live longer. Now, it turns out, it just ain't true. The super skinny rhesus monkeys did not live longer than the normal weight monkeys (which caused named scientists much grief at the thought of all those forgone croissants). Certainly it isn't an invitation for gluttony, but if we get to eat, let's enjoy it!

Coffee Cantata

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Kaffeekantate, written for performance in Zimmerman’s Coffee House in Leipzig, contains some of his most sublime music on a thoroughly ridiculous text. (The official name is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, which translates “Be quiet, stop chattering.”)

Here Liesgen sings of her undying love for the drink:

Oh! how sweet coffee tastes—
lovelier than a thousand kisses,
smoother than muscatel wine.
Coffee, I must have coffee,
and if someone wants to give me a treat,
ah, just pour me out a coffee!