Basil, Ginger, and Cinnamon Cranberry Jam

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Happy Monday, friends! Or, for those of you who are stumbling upon this recipe on a different day of the week, Happy ______day! I hope you're having a wonderful day and week. 

I had a totally relaxed weekend that consisted almost exclusively of "dating" my fiance. Instead of making plans with other friends and couples (which I have a tendency to fill up our calendar with), we spent the weekend together. And, instead of bumming around in sweats during the entire weekend, we made it a point to go on meaningful dates and explore a bit more of our wonderful city. We kicked off the weekend with our "old favorites," stopping by a local pub for dinner on Friday and going to our neighborhood "Breakfast Club" for breakfast on Saturday. After a relaxing day, we then tried out West Town Tavern (seriously to die for) for dinner on Saturday, and Meli for brunch on Sunday. 

In the middle of all of this relaxing, I have to admit I got sucked into wedding planning. Sometimes, when you've got something exciting on the books, it's hard to not revolve around it. It's like everything I see reminds me of it. Cool candles on our dinner tables at West Town Tavern? Sends my mind to wedding mode.

You may not be planning a wedding (if you are, let me know!), but there's probably something you're obsessing over lately. Just admit it. Your mind is spending too much time running on that wheel.

Sometimes, we just need a welcome distraction. Something we can put our effort into that will have more short term rewards, to remind us that we are creative and inspired and competent in this moment. Something to snag our mind off of the obsessing-over-this-or-that path.

That's where this recipe comes in. It's a fairly quick recipe, so it won't eat up your entire day or leave you feeling guilty for spending too much time on a jar of jam. But, it is homemade, and it will give you a break from your stressful or monotonous day.

Not to mention how darn proud you'll feel as you share with friends or take a bite yourself!

I made this jam to give as part of a Christmas gift for my soon-to-be in-laws. But, it was so delicious, that I made some for my own fridge as well.

Basil, Ginger, and Cinnamon Cranberry Jam
Ingredients:

• 1 bag whole/fresh Cranberries (A 4 cup, 12-oz package. Do not use dried cranberries)
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2/3 cup Stevia Powder
• 1 tablespoon Basil, finely chopped (fresh or dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh Ginger, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon Honey

Directions:

1. Rinse the cranberries and place in a medium to large sauce pot with water, sugar, and stevia powder. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. 
2. Once the water reaches a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for approximately 10-14 minutes, or until all the cranberries seem to have burst.
3. Stir in basil, ginger, cinnamon, and honey and stir well. On the lowest heat, continue to stir very frequently for an additional 2-4 minutes.
4. Test for sweetness and drizzle additional honey (or add sugar) to increase sweetness level.
5. If you'd like to can your jam so that it will last longer, follow these directions: Be sure that your glass jar and top are all clean (I boiled everything in a separate pot to ensure they were all clean). Then, place jam in a jar, filling almost all the way to the top but leaving about 1/4-1/2 an inch of air. Seal well and place in a pot filled with enough boiling water to cover the top of the jam jar. Boil the jam in the water for about 10 minutes (I did 15 to be safe). Remove and let cool.

Notes:

• If you "can" it properly, it will stay good for a full year before being opened... but once you open it, it is just like any other jar of jam and will need to be refrigerated.
• This is a low sugar recipe. I didn't cut out sugar entirely, but I did replace some of it with stevia powder, so that it's not too high sugar (which is a common culprit when it comes to jams). If this swap isn't your thing, feel free to replace stevia powder with sugar.