Blackberries, blue berries, berries for jam! I used to make jam in the summer with berries just picked. They went from the picking bowl to the jam kettle. But there is so much to do in the summer: gardens to weed and water, horses to ride, and that afternoon wind can send a sailboat flying across Puget Sound. Nowdays those just picked berries go into the freezer, after all the associated insects have had a few moments to consider their fate and let go of the berries. Protein is a good thing in one’s diet, but I do try to avoid deep freezing members of the insect world. It doesn’t take long for the freezer to fill up with casually labeled bags, “Mixed Berries, 2008.” Then in the fall when the rain starts and the wind blows and gray is the predominant color in the sky, we create the fragrances of summer. The berries are poured into a big pot on the stove. We search the basement for the canning jars and sometimes run to the store for more canning lids, jars and pectin. The jars are scrubbed and set out to dry all over the kitchen. The old black enamaled canner is hunted down, filled with water, and sits regally on the stovetop steaming and ready for the jars. Once again we go through the tradition of ‘putting food by’. The berries of summer became jams to grace muffins and scones baked in the cold winter months. Yes, we could buy jam in the stores, but it would be so predictable. When we make it, it may be jam or it may be syrup. We always try cutting back the sugar, so sometimes our jam doesn’t set. If it remains fairly liquid, we simply change the label and give our friends jars of gleaming red or purple syrups to serve over morning pancakes. We have the freedom to combine various fruits and berries, raspberries and cherries go very well together. And many years we made Autumn Sauce with apples, pears, and small purple plums. Maybe this year, I’ll make a Summer/Autumn Sauce, a hybrid of summer berries and fall fruit. That could be a fine tasting blend…