Gifts: jam making

[Jasminty]

Hi I am fairly new to this and wanted your opinion on if I can make jam for my family for christmas. Give them the jars and ask when finished if I can have them back so I can make more for next time.

They're quite expensive. I know I could look cheap asking for them back but ..... what do think would it be so bad?

Ha, game!

Jam!

Will it be their whole present, or just a little extra alongside? Acceptable to ask for jars back if it's just a little something on the side, but if their whole present is jam, then yes, it would look very tight.

Homemade jam contains fruit and sugar, just the same as any other jam.... plus it doesn't have preservative and other nasties found in shop bought.

We made loads of strawberry jam last summer and as long as you sterilise the jars and fill them hot they keep very well. Once open, we store the jars in the fridge. (Although they don't last long with three kids around). Have made marmalade and chutney in the past too, but nothing comes out better than plain strawberry or raspberry jam.

No you can't ask for them back!

I buy the cheapest food item in jars - can usually get something for

One of the sweetest Christmas presents I received was when I was in university. My roommate was from Maine. She gave me three jars of homemade blueberry jam. It was amazing. I kept the jars though and used them as vases.

if you are giving to various people, then the jars don't need to match. If giving more than one to the same person, I try to match the jars, but even if I can't they can be a set if you do a cute ribbon or matching labels.

Home made Marmite.

You can't ask for the jar back.

I wouldn't like jam as a present, it just sits in the kitchen forever.

It's like the time a friend gave me vanilla sugar as a present in a kilner jar, and asked for the jar back. Why give it to me then

I've made jam for Christmas for my family. I know they like homemade jam and I have lots of fruit from my garden to use. I really enjoy sharing things I've made, and I love receiving things other people have made too. I'd not ask for the jars back, and in my case it wouldn't make much sense as I live a long long way away, but my mum still suggested I took some empty jars back with me last time I visited.

I do agree that if you let people know you are collecting jars you will soon get lots of them.

I think I too would have to reconsider a friend who gave me homemade jam as a gift Lol!!!
Love the standard shop bought stuff thank you

I give hampers of home made jams, chutneys, infused alcohols, fudge, biscuits etc at Xmas. They're always really well received. My friends are obviously nicer people than some of you lot!

Totally depends on the family and your relationship but I would with mine and it would be fine.

I give hampers of home made jams, chutneys, infused alcohols, fudge, biscuits etc at Xmas.

welshmaenads your hampers sound great. There is a massive difference between your lovely hamper and a lonely jar of jam and being asked to return jars

EastMids - Homemade marmite made me laugh! Would it even be possible?

My boyfriend is a chef and Japanese. He was/is bemused by marmite. He has been obsessively trying to make home made marmite for some time. He has so far only come up with a beige nightmare he made from reducing fresh yeast in the oven and swearing at it through the glass. He has tied to feed it to my 5 year old son who absolutely rejected it, me (same reaction ) and my parents who were polite about it. He then ended up shoving it on everything (rice, noodles. ....EVERYTHING )! he ate and insisting it was delicious and far superior to the real thing.

I'd love to be given a jar of homemade jam.
I'd feel a bit weirdly pressured about returning the jar though.

Bit like a savoury version of that Lotus biscuit spread Coconutty?

Intriguing idea. That's my 9 year old's Christmas present sorted then.

I shall just send her to her room for not being "nice" if she moans she'd rather have had a Barbie doll.

Homemade jam is lovely if you actually eat jam.
My crafty friends insist on gifting me jam even though I'm certain none of them have ever seen me eat any. It's just not my thing.
I try to give it away to charity raffles / stalls etc but everyone else seems to have the same idea - so it can't be just me!!
I do appreciate the effort but id appreciate a homemade gift with some thought behind it much more... It's like me buying a bottle of gin every year for someone who doesn't drink IMO.
And no, you can't ask for the jars back but many people will give them back to you anyway.

Homemade jam is lovely if you actually eat jam.

Yep, good homemade jam a world away from even the best shop bought stuff.

Ikea do fabulous cheap Kilner-type jars (and bottles) - 80p for a good sized one for jam.

I'd love to be given jam every year.

MN is a parallel universe sometimes.

I make jam, I give it away, I ask for the jars back. Or, in reality, people ask when I'm making the next batch, clearly wanting some, and give me jars from other sources so I have a good supply.

A family up the road make chutney but not jam. We have a swap each year,satisfaction all round.

You could make a fruit cheese by cooking a jam mixture down to a thick jelly consistency (works best for e.g. Crab apples, quince or damsons).
Set it in oiled ramekins and once it's set you can wrap it in grease proof paper parcels.
Lovely unusual gifts and not a jar in sight!
Plenty of recipes on e.g. YouTube if you're not sure how to gauge the right consistency.

Home made jam can be amazing, I've just been making strawberry jam and it's just so much nicer than shop-bought. A relative gives me jars of home made chilli jam for Christmas every year, I love it!
You need to know your audience though, I find people who appreciate home made stuff are usually ones who also make things themselves.