Gooseberry Jam

I've had several pounds of gooseberries in the freezer since last year. I was too ill to do much about anything last year and been really busy and lacking motivation at times this year. As the freezer was filling up again with soft fruit this year, I finally gave myself the kick up the bum that I needed to do something about it - I made jam and it's lovely!

I used just over 2 pounds of gooseberries with 2 pounds of sugar. Topping and tailing the gooseberries was easy while they were still frozen - just pick the tops and tails off with a fingernail. I then boiled them for just over half an hour in just over a pint of water. I then turned the gas right down and added the sugar, stirring for a few minutes while the sugar disolved. I then boiled it for about 10 minutes or so and potted it in saved jam jars. I got 3 jars full right to the top.

I gave two jars away, one to my neighbour and one to my girlfriend. Several other people said they really like it and have placed orders! I've said I'll give them a jar of jam if they give me a big bag of sugar - fair swap?!

I love jam so don't want to give too much of it away and don't want to use too much fruit making jams all the time - I want to make other things like gooseberry pie and gooseberry wine, and want enough gooseberries to make more jams throughout the year.