I know – June was a long time ago but I have been dying to share this post!!!

At the beginning of June a guy came into the restaurant one night with a plastic bag full of small purple-ish berries.  He left them for our chef and explained that his hobby was “urban foraging” and he had found these over near Cambridgeside Gallaria.  It just so happened I was about to put a lemon cake on my menu and these berries where the perfect garnish!!!

However, he had only dropped off about 3 cups worth and I quickly needed more.  So, one day after work I dragged Bryan over to the Gallaria in search of the berries.  I was pretty skeptical that I would actually find them, I was picturing one small bush that would be hard to find.  Well was I WRONG!!! There were at least 5 HUGE trees filled with fruit!!!! I picked enough for the restaurant and then enough for me to make a small batch of jam here at home.  I came out beautifully.

Juneberries have been described as “the poor man’s blueberry”.  They are smaller and have seeds, when eaten raw that are just slightly sweet with a floral aftertaste.  When cooked the jam was very simalar to blueberry but just a little bit more unique!!!

JuneBerry JAM

4 cups of juneberries, washed

2.5 cups of sugar

1/2 a lemon

Bring to a simmer over low heat.  Cook till becomes thicker and passes the “jelly test”. (Gets gel like when placed on ice cold spoon). Mine cooked for about 2 hours on low heat.