I wish I ate breakfast more often. “They” say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it helps you get the energy you need to get going. Eating earlier is also suppose to kick-start your digestive system, which is supposed to be good as well. If I ate breakfast more often than I do, then I would probably be having toast almost every morning. There aren’t many meals that are easier than toast to make – pop it in the toaster oven, wait, then eat.
I love eating my toast with really good jams or jellies, but I’ve never really tried preserves. What’s the difference between jam, jellies, or preserves? According to answers.com:
Jam is made with whole fruit that is cooked down to release the pectin. Jelly is made with fruit juice that pectin is added to. While many canner’s of today use pectin in jam, it is not traditional. Preserves use the whole fruit without breaking it up, and marmalade uses the zest and pulp, and the juice, however not the whole fruit. The whole fruit would result in a bitter product.
Or more to the point:
- Jelly is made from fruit juice
- Jam is made from pureed fruit
- Preserves are made from whole fruit
- Spreads are made from whole fruit and/or pureed fruit
That makes me think that preserves are more natural, since it’s not going through a lot of processing. This weekend, I got a chance to sample Aunt Berta’s Kiwi-Mango Preserves. Several of us gathered around the table with toasted crackers in hand and one by one, topped our crackers with a nice blob of preserves.
The texture is definitely chunkier than jams and jellies. While some jams that I have had are more slimy and seem to slip off my bread (unless I smear it in), Aunt Berta’s Kiwi-Mango Preserves seems sturdy and solid. Like that blob of preserves is holding some real substance to it. The color is a little weird, I’ll admit – an odd blend of tan and orange. But if preserves are more natural than some of the other typical toast toppers, then it makes sens that it hasn’t assumed an un-natural color, like some fluorescent oranges I’ve seen on store shelves. Not only do Aunt Berta’s products not have food colorings, but they are also free of preservatives and are certified Kosher.
I thought Aunt Berta’s Preserves tasted extremely fresh. It had a good kick of sweetness to it that wasn’t overwhelming. One of the other tasters thought that he could detect a transition in flavor – one from sweet, then tart, then back to sweet. While kiwi-mango isn’t my fruit flavor of choice (but two of the kid tasters thought it was great), the quality of the product is clearly very high.
I’m confident that if I purchased their strawberry preserves (they also have apricot, fig, passionfruit, and even mango lychee plus many other flavors) it would be the perfect way to kick start my day.
In the Trash Can in the Bathroom
In the Trash Can in the Bathroom
I am a huge Jelly fan and it would be very hard to get me to try preserves. But i do like the fact that preserves are real fruit. So from a health standpoint, I would be willing to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
I am a huge Jelly fan and it would be very hard to get me to try preserves. But i do like the fact that preserves are real fruit. So from a health standpoint, I would be willing to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
I am a huge Jelly fan and it would be very hard to get me to try preserves. But i do like the fact that preserves are real fruit. So from a health standpoint, I would be willing to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
I am a huge Jelly fan and it would be very hard to get me to try preserves. But i do like the fact that preserves are real fruit. So from a health standpoint, I would be willing to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.