Friday Fuck Up: Strawberry Jammed

jam1 jam2

Today’s F-UP comes from from Mandie, author of wtf jk lol, my former roommate and berry picking partner. We had our first college apartment together, fucked up a lot of food, but neither of us wanted to publicize our failures. Until now.

After I explained I had no idea what to do with all that fruit (and, ahem, ES readers said jam was so easy), Mandie decided to take the challenge and make jam.

The last time Mandie attempted jam, it was watery and she ended up having to remove it from the jars to recook it (big pain in the ass). So to avoid that fiasco, she cooked this batch a little longer. Sounds like a good plan, right?

Unfortunately, this second attempt ended up being “the consistency of those weird gel candles.” The fruity substance, seen above, was impossible to extract from the jars without some force and creative methods. Certainly not spreadable.

Can we get a little help, ESers? Where did she go wrong? What’s the secret to making jam look like jam?

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3 comments

  • gansie July 17, 2009  

    i need way more detail…how did the fuck up happen? did you follow a recipe? what were these creative methods used to get the jam out?

  • mandie July 18, 2009  

    as this is technically my fuck-up, ill respond:

    i followed a recipe in a preserves cookbook. it tasted and looked beautiful up until the next day when my dad went to taste it and the jam was the consistency of rubber, but stickier.

    i ended up soaking the jars (at least i only made 3) in a bath of hot water to soften the ‘jam’ before slurping it out with a spoon.

    i have a great history of fucking up jam/ ice cream/ baking so i cant say im surprised.

  • Dad July 18, 2009  

    The cooking process should be stopped when the jam slowly pours off the side of a spoon, leaving slight ripples.

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