Every so often these days something reminds me anew my mother is gone. Not being able to share "The Goat Rodeo Sessions" with her (we listened to a lot of Yo Yo Ma in her last days) is one thing. My current jam & jelly inventory is another.
Over the years the jam making fell to me. After my mother moved to assisted living she actually went through more jam because she would take a jar to the dining room at breakfast and share it with her tablemates or give a jar to someone as a thank you gift.
Over the past year my mother wasn't using much jam at all and – I'm not sure why – I haven't been giving away as much as I used to so now it comes as a bit of surprise every time I open the freezer door and see it only half-full.
(Even though I don't make freezer jam I keep my jam in a freezer because the color and the flavor hold up so much better.)
