Favorite Snack: Blackberry Lime-Aid Jam

I was rummaging around in our garage freezer earlier this week, hunting for some secret venison back-straps when I found 5 little purple containers of this freezer jam from last summer.

I think freezer jam is silly; a waste of freezer space to be completely honest. I'd rather freeze meat, vegetables & ice cream ;) But finding these squirreled away definitely brightened up a dreary week. I'd gotten a coupon for Ball's new-ish plastic freezer half pints and decided to try them out using this recipe. I switched it up, skipped the pectin, & substituted Hansen's Ginger-Ale for the water.

Recipe as adapted from BH&G Canning

5 1/4 cups sugar 3 cups crushed blackberries zest of 2 limes juice of 2 limes can of Hansen's Ginger-Ale

In a large bowl, combine sugar, blackberries, lime zest and juice. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add mixture to a small saucepan with ginger-ale and bring to a soft boil.

Stir until well combined and not grainy (I prefer baking sugar to standard for jam making). Let it thicken slightly, 225 degrees will help it gel but it's not necessary unless you hate runny jam.

Ladle jam into half-pint freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hrs and then move to refrigerator for up to 3 week or freezer for a year.

I like mine on whole wheat toast with a schmear of cream cheese.