Spread Some Lovingkindness

Elderberry Jam

Who doesn’t love to start their morning with a slice of toast slathered in jam? Jam is one of life’s small, but very sweet, pleasures. Whether it’s that PB&J you loved as a child, a spoonful of jam on hot biscuits, or jam as a homemade gift, this sweet condiment conjures up fond memories in all of us.

As Barbara Johnson famously said, “If we give someone a piece of bread and butter, that`s kindness, but if we put jelly or peanut butter on it, then it`s loving kindness.”

Jam has a long history that started as early as the Ancient Greeks, who preserved quince in honey. The first written recipe for jam dates to Rome in the fourth century AD and contained fruit heated with honey, which was cooled and stored for later use. In 1099 returning Crusaders brought sugar, and the process of jam making home from the Middle East, and this sweet treat was introduced to Western Europe.

In the U.S., Jerome Smucker from Ohio opened a cider mill in 1897 using trees that Johnny Appleseed had planted, and later began making apple butter. And in 1918 an American company, Welch’s, began producing a grape based jam that was bought by the U.S. Army and shipped to the soldiers of the First World War.

Jam is readily available now in all kinds of flavors, recipes, and sizes. But no one can argue that homemade jam is the best.

Our Elderberry Jam is homemade one batch at a time on our family’s farm using a mixture of elderberry juice, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and lemon. And like our famous Elderberry Syrup, it “tastes like Christmas.”

We use only good clean water from our deep mountain well to process the juice, and we never use high fructose corn syrup, a common ingredient in most commercial jam.

If you’re looking for a unique flavor, try our Elderberry Orange Jam, a delicious combination of elderberry juice, sugar, pectin, orange juice concentrate, orange peel, orange oil, and lemon juice.

Get our Elderberry Jam and spread some lovingkindness today!

Article Author: Anne Marck