How to Make Jam

Cultivating an environment of creativity for my kids can be challenging at times, especially when it comes to cooking. I have certain ways of doing things and when my kids want to help, I need to remind myself they have their own ways of expressing their creative sides which may not be like mine. Both of my daughters are old enough to be very capable of cooking on their own with minimal supervision. Every once in a while they will come up with their own recipe, which I may not give enough thought to. For instance, Mimi loves to make jam. But not just any jam - hodgepodge jam.

The reason I call it "hodgepodge jam" is because she loves to make different varieties of jam every single time. Her desire to make every batch unique is what makes it fun for her. What she likes to do is use whatever fresh or frozen berries we have on hand. As long as the fruit equals 2 cups, she is free to develop her own ratio of various fruits. One time while making strawberry jam she asked if we could add a kiwi to it. I initially thought it was an odd request. After all, who makes kiwi jam? But when I was able to get beyond my knee-jerk reaction I thought it was quite brilliant of her to come up with a unique twist, which I knew wouldn't hurt the jam one bit and actually tasted quite good.

At another time Mimi insisted on adding one frozen blueberry to a batch of strawberry jam. She thought it was so much fun to just add one so I let her. The point of this post is to encourage you to think outside the box and let your children develop their own culinary point of view even if it is different from yours. Who knows, your child could be the next J.M. Smuckers.