First: an aside. I noticed this week that my fingers are taking on a subtle but certain look of age and overuse. Kind of bending and twisting a bit when they’re at rest. The cumulative effect, probably, of spending half my life before a glowing screen, arms propped awkwardly on a desk, fingers rapidly firing T-O-I-L, basically, over and over again.

Some nights we come home from our day jobs and our commutes and the thought of preparing a meal with all the raw, local ingredients in our kitchen feels like another hour or two wrangling only more T-O-I-L. But lately, even in the heat, or maybe because of it, we have been coming home to this reality with a sense of a relief. Respite. Therapy for my twisted fingers. The silent, methodical rhythms of transforming all of this beautiful produce into simple, delicious stuff. We’re using our hands and ourselves in a more natural way. We’re making a mess, nourishing ourselves and tidying up in a terribly satisfying way. And probably hitting dozens of important acupressure points on our palms in the process.

And now, to the point: We’re already putting things by with a bit of a fury in preparation for the winter, should it ever get cold again. Little bits here and there, when something is suddenly abundant. A couple nights ago we made a giant bowl of pesto and our first batch of blueberry jam. The jam turned out rather miraculously to be our most successful batch yet. Per usual, we winged the recipe.

We’ve learned two important things about jam recently through the Collective Conscience of our Facebook page, a small bit of web research and the contents of this book called Putting Food By. They are: 1) That pectin does nothing for the preserving of fruit. It only affects the texture of a jam, making the “jelliness” of it, in some cases, possible. and 2) sugar changes the acid of a jam. Which is to say, sugar does something for the preserving of fruit. If you remove the sugar entirely, like we have done, you’re at risk unless you put your jam in the fridge or freezer.

Because we think 12 cups of sugar in anything (a standard quantity for jam recipes) is an obscenity, we reduced the amount most sources told us to use. And have opted to refrigerate and/or freeze.

Here’s how we did our blueberries:

2 1/2 pints of blueberries (or 7 1/2 cups)
3 cups of sugar
1/2 t of cinnamon*
1/4 t of ground cloves*

*optional, for spicing

yield: 3 1/2 pints

The morning after, when all was cooled, the jam was surprisingly viscous — jelly-like, really. And delicious. It’s now in our freezer until a dreary day in February, so we can’t be sure the consistency or flavor will stay the same. Here’s hoping.

…Now step away from the computer and go work your hands.