We don't have a forest school we can be part of in our area...at this time. Therefore; as Ellie's mommy and home school teacher, I take it upon myself to get her out and get her exploring all the wonderful things God has created for us. Violets are not only super beautiful as they grow in patches in the Spring, they are so versatile in the kitchen!
One thing that can be done with them is to make them into a delicious jam!
My 2 year old daughter and I read the book, Bread & Jam for Frances. We then made our own gluten free almond bread in our bread machine. Now, we needed some jam!
In the mountains hiking and in our own yard we found countless violets. We picked them, an overflowing cup full! My daughter quickly learned to identify them and got to it with little help from me.
We brought them into the kitchen, made sure all stems were removed, then set to work.
Ingredients:
* A cup or more of violets (stemless)
* 3/4 cup of water
* Juice from one lemon
* One packet of pectin
* 4 (ish) tablespoons of honey (I used honey instead of sugar. If you rather, add 2.5 cups of sugar)
Directions:
* In a blender or food processor, add violets, water, and honey (or sugar), and lemon juice.
* Blend it up until well combined
* In a saucepan, pour entire packet of pectin and 1 cup of water and continuously stir as water heats to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring, allow pectin to roll in the boil for one minute. Then remove from heat and add to the violet mixture in the blender. Blend for one minute.
*Pour into sterilized canning jars and seal or place lid.
These will set as they cool. Store in the refrigerator or freezer up to 3 weeks.
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