Homemade 4 Berry Jam

I have always wanted to make berry jam in the Summer.  We tried it last year with our wild blackberries, but it wasn't amazing.  I didn't love the consistency or the pectin.  I found a recipe that didn't use pectin and only had berries, lemon juice and sugar in it.  It was the perfect recipe for us.

You'll need 6-7 cups of your favorite berries (We used blackberries, strawberries, raspberries & blueberries - hence 4 berry jam on the 4th of July)

1 cup of sugar

and 1/4 cup + 1 T fresh lemon juice and zest of one lemon

I also had two small jam jars and lids to hold the jam.

Follow the directions linked above to a t.  They were perfect!  Wash berries, let dry, chop and start cooking.  I did this on a day when we were home and I could also tackle other projects while the jam cooked.

The jam turned out so pretty!

Our backyard blackberries were extra yummy this year!

The prettiest 4 berry mixture!  I made this on the 4th of July and just might have started a new family tradition.

Put all ingredients in a pot and start cooking low and slow.

Smash, mix and stir, stir, stir.

Turn up the heat and wait for it to thicken.

Cool and put in a cute jam jar.  The above recipe made two jam jars.

The perfect addition to any breakfast plate!

This was the easiest, yummiest jam recipe I have ever tried.  I will definitely make it again with yummy summer berries.  I think I'm going to try strawberry and raspberry jam next.

4th of July Recap

I hope you had a Happy 4th of July this year!

It was rainy and humid start to do the day here, but all the bad weather cleared for a fun evening.  It's Kevin's favorite holiday so he had been stocking up on fireworks every time he left the house.  The kids picked out all the best ones for our at home fireworks show.  We have a great view from our driveway and can see about 6 different fireworks shows all around us.

Kevin surprised us with an early morning donut run.  I surprised Olive with matching 4th of July pjs for us.  The little boys didn't love being left out of the matching pj situation.  Noted.

He also surprised me with holiday flowers since we had friends coming over for dinner.  He's a keeper!

The boys were in charge of prepping the grill and getting the backyard ready.  We kept it easy - brats and hot dogs and all the yummy Summer sides.

I tried a new recipe - a Chicken Salad Chick Copy Cat sugar cookie recipe.  They were very fluffy and Olive loved them.

2024 tree line picture.

2022 version of this picture.  Look how much everyone and everything has grown!!

Kevin also surprised me with this pink moscato and it was DELICIOUS.

We grilled with friends and then headed out to do fireworks as it started getting dark.  The dads were supervising.

The kids were having the best time.  We had loads of good fireworks, took a Bomb Pop break and had a great show all around our neighborhood.  Unfortunately, one of the fireworks malfunctioned and exploded in Kevin's hand.  The poor guy has the biggest blisters and has been in so much pain ever since.  He loves the 4th and fireworks so much that it was really sad to cut the evening short because of his burned hand.  Here's to hoping that it heals really quickly!

We ended up finishing our fireworks when Kevin was feeling better a few days later.  It was perfect weather and the kids had the best time.

Summer needs to SLOW DOWN because it is zooming by way too quickly.

Fourth Favorites

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!  June seemed to go by slowly, but now we're half way through summer.  We had a festive week and I have lots of favorites to share with you today.

1 // Flag Charcuterie Lunch

I surprised the kids with all of their favorite red, white and blue foods for lunch.  They loved it!  These soft pretzels are such a fun addition to any lunch menu.

2 // Amazon Favorites

Did you see my Amazon favorites post on Wednesday??  10 Summer Amazon Must Haves - I shared s everything from goggles to toddler shorts to board books to these jelly bracelets that I love so much.  If you've seen me this Summer, you've seen me wearing these bracelets.

 3 // 4th of July

We had a really fun 4th at home.  I love matching holiday outfits for the kids so much.  We invited some friends over for fireworks and fun and it really was so much fun.

4 // Watch them grow!  Our trees were planted about a year ago and they have grown so much.  So have the kids!

2023 Backyard on July 4th

2022 Backyard on July 4th!

5 // Red, white and blue jello

My kids requested festive jello for the 4th.  I make rainbow jello every St Patrick's Day so they wanted me to try red and blue jello for the 4th.  It took hours to make (12 layers x 20 minutes each to set = a lot of time making jello), but the end result was totally worth it.

6 // Bouquets of flags

I stocked up on a big set of American flags last year and I loved decorating with them again this year.  It is so fun and festive to have bouquets of flags all over the house.

I popped flags in everything I could for July!  All of my planters and indoor plants all got flags.  Our house looked so festive and the kids had fun helping me.

7 // Jordan Bakery Box

I had some really yummy red, white and blue orders this week!

8 // Parties

I love all the prep and planning for holidays.  It's my favorite thing to collect all the best paper products for parties.  We used these cute firework plates all week and added sprinkles to anything we could.

9 // Kids in the Kitchen

This was our family theme this week - incorporating kids in the kitchen whenever we could.  I invited them to help me make breakfast for dinner giving them important jobs.  They loved it.  I taught them my tricks and tips for chocolate dipped pretzels.  They had the best time making them for our 4th of July party with friends.

10 // Okra

We picked a bowl full of okra this week!  It's done so well in our garden.  I am planning to fry some and freeze some for soups this Fall.  Fletcher had the job of measuring the okra to make sure we picked the biggest ones.  Leo had the job of collecting everything in a bowl.  We are loving our garden!

Linking up with Momfessionals

4th of July Fun

We kicked off our 4th of July weekend a little early at our house.  We celebrated Kevin's birthday with my side of the family.  We did some yard work.  Kevin grilled several times over the weekend and put together several fireworks displays for family and friends.

I made all the red, white and blue food possible!  I love holiday themed treats so much.

Mocato fans - I found a new favorite - Sweet Tulip Moscato!  It's delicious.  It's sweet, refreshing and I will definitely be buying this again.

Is there anything better than a plate full of delicious Summer foods!?  I love trying everyone's favorite foods that they bring to share at a cookout.

Kevin is always the fun one.  Lanterns, fireworks and lots of backyard fun!

The cousin crew.

I decorated with a big balloon garland, flags everywhere instead of flowers and anything red, white and blue that I could find.

Kevin's smashburgers were so good!  This weekend he grilled two rounds of smash burgers and brats.

We picked blackberries!  Our wild blackberry bushes are just starting to ripen up.  We carefully picked a bowl full and snacked as we went.  Those blackberry thorns are tricky to navigate around.

I can't resist matching holiday shirts!

Leo can't resist berries!

We ate lots of pound cake + berries.  Did you see the recipe I posted for it yesterday?

We made JAM!!  I've always wanted to give jam making a try and Kevin helped make that happen this year.  We made blackberry & strawberry freezer jam.  It was really fun and easy to make so I'm hoping that it turns out delicious.  We would love to try other flavors.  The big kids really enjoyed helping mash the fruit and Kevin made sure we followed the directions.  Stay tuned.  If it turns out to be delicious, I'll share the details!

I asked them to pose by our new trees.  I'm going to try to take their picture by them every July to watch out they (the kids and the trees) grow!

We finished the night with a big neighborhood fireworks display + Kevin doing his own show in our driveway with friends.  I didn't take a single picture because I was on popsicle, trash and Leo duty.  He wasn't so sure he loved fireworks and clung to me like a baby koala.  We all stayed up way too late, ate Bomb Pops and had a blast.  I hope you had a happy 4th of July this year!