I made blackberry jam.

If you have never made jam you are really impressed with me right now. If you have you think I am dork for sharing. I thought it was hard. I had never done it. I had seen other over achiever perfect women hand me jam in beautiful containers. I was grateful; I licked the spoon savoring each taste because this was only going to happen when some amazing person (not a hint, unless you are going to do something about it) gave me homemade jam or I bought it at the Farmer’s Market.

It all started because my favorite person, Mr. Greene said, “I picked all the blackberries, you could make jam”.  Mr. Greene thinks I am super woman, I blame me really, I am kinda awesome and I hate to disappoint him after all this time. After 15 years of marriage I have managed to keep him fooled and one of my tactics for helping him think I am amazing is telling him “Lover (that’s what I call him face to face) I’m a great wife.” Or “Lover, you really have it very good!”

One of our favorite movies is “The Edge”. Anthony Hopkins, the wilds of Alaska, a man eating bear… all very big hard things, like making blackberry jam.  In the point of, ‘do we give up or fight’ Anthony Hopkins character says, “What one man (or woman) can do another man can do!”  Its one of our family mantras … we Greene’s are tough, we can do this. Bears by the way like blackberries.

So… blackberry jam. I grew the blackberries. And now they are multiplying beyond what my children and the neighbor children can eat.  So I did my homework … Pinterest.  And whoa.. it had very few steps. “The Cake” recipe I make to look like an overachiever and was harder! I could do this! I bought the pectin, the sugar (which I have decided to forget how much sugar is involved)  I made the jam. I did! No wise matronly figure was there to guide me, just Pinterest and the Pectin box.  It was ‘lickably’ delicious and my friends Pam and Kent got a container of my first Blackberry jam. She is a total Martha. She makes awesome meals that are also decorated– like, well, Pinterest. And she has not called and said my jam was bad. Silence is consent. Mr. Greene is still fooled into thinking I’m amazing. What one woman can do– I can do!! Really it wasn’t as complicated or as hard as I thought it was.. a lot of things in life are that way. And often it just takes someone we trust and love to say… you can do this. I could and I did. And I was totally impressed with me. I am making my second batch soon. Unless the children, neighbor kids or bears eat all my blackberries.

You can.  You could.  You should do something that impresses you.

And please don’t eat my blackberries, come have a piece of multigrain toast with blackberry.jam.