Have you ever meant to say or write down one thing but, instead, said or wrote another? Oftentimes, this leads to disaster, but not this time!
For those of you familiar with my blog, you may remember my entry titled, "Figs, Figs, and More Figs!!!" It relayed my first experience harvesting our fig crop and making roughly 20 jars of refrigerator fig jam that was very reminiscent of the fig preserves my grandmother made when I was a child.
We have truly enjoyed our fig jam, and we're now on our last jar! I've mixed it with Greek yogurt for my almost-daily breakfast, hubby loves it on toast, and my oldest son wants a PB&F (peanut butter and fig sandwich) for lunch every day.
Once I realized that the fig jam wouldn't be enough to last us until the next harvest, I decided that I would continue making refrigerator jam with a different fruit. Strawberry jam seemed too ordinary, so I decided to use frozen mixed berries.
Here's where my mistake was made. Instead of writing down "frozen mixed berries" on my hubby's shopping list, I wrote down "frozen mixed fruit." Hubby's a great shopper and brought home exactly what I asked for. The bag of frozen fruit contained strawberries, peaches, pineapple, red grapes, and melon.
I didn't have very high hopes for this concoction, mostly because of the melon, but it is very tasty! So much so, that I'll gladly make the same mistake in the future!

I used my Refrigerator Fig Jam recipe and just substituted an equal amount of mixed fruit for the figs.
Ingredients (can be doubled, tripled, and quadrupled!)
2 cups fresh figs (chopped and stems removed) - or - mixed berries, mixed fruit, etc.
3/4 cup sugar
splash of lemon juice (about a tablespoon) - can be omitted
drizzle of honey (about a tablespoon) - can be omitted
Process
Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring often. With a mashed potato utensil, mash the fruit into small bits. Cook at medium simmer for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes until it reaches a jam-like consistency. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools. Store in jars in the refrigerator, or freeze for later enjoyment!





By the way, generally speaking, jams are gluten-free! A jar of homemade jam would make a very sweet gift to many people on your list. And, since the jam can be frozen, there's no hurry for the recipient to enjoy it.
Here's wishing you only happy mistakes this week, and please remember that kindness has the power to change the world!
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