Welcome to a new theme for 2017! Tuesdays will now be a time when I confess some “secret” and invite you to do the same!
THE TRUTH IS…
I can never keep track of the difference between jam, jelly, preserves, marmalade, or currants. Not only do I not understand flavor differences, I also don’t know the difference in textures. Surely one spreads easier on bread? I feel like I need to conduct an actual scientific experiment on this. I’ll be the crazy lady buying jars of jelly like substances.
But then what would I do with the ones that aren’t the “winner”? Maybe there’s a test I can sign up for. Does Smuckers conduct taste tests?
And the real truth is, that as much as I don’t have an opinion between the types of jarred substances I spread on my bread, I have very specific opinions about which flavor goes on which bread or for which use. Strawberry is only for butter and bread. Grape is for peanut butter. Apple butter is the best for biscuits, please and thank you, ma’am. Apricot is a favorite for breakfast croissants.
Well, I’ve spilled my neurotic secret. What’s yours?
Rose Fairbanks 
I prefer grape jam for PB&J sandwiches as I find it spreads more easily. I do like preserves but don’t use any “spread” on a regular basis due to high sugar content.
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I have never seen grape jam? or jelly. We either don’t have it in the UK or I don’t shop in the right places. I too don’t eat much jam but do prefer high fruit preserves. My favourite was the marmalade my mum used to make. We used to squeeze oranges grapefruit & lemons then mince the rind (that was my job) it was the nicest marmalade ever!
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Wow, hard to imagine that you don’t have grape jam or jelly – it is such a staple here in the States. We used to grow our own grapes and make juice as well as jelly from the fruit.
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Perhaps it’s because grapes only grow well in the south of England Sheila. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, black-, red- and white currants all grow so well here.
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I understand but with so much being shared between the colonies and the crown I thought this favorite might have become better known. After all we eat a lot of gooseberries/kiwi fruit here and that comes all the way from down under. We do use currants but I don’t know of any grown locally. The other berries are common here – even along roadways as you walk.
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Ah, the debate about preserves that come in jars. I was trying to explain this to one of my US JAFF friends recently. Say ‘jelly’ to us Brits, and we think of the food you guys call ‘Jello’. She told me that jelly is what you call a smooth textured preserve and that jam contains pieces of the fruit. I sometimes make my own jam from fruit grown in our garden,
Some friends of ours who moved to the USA some years ago have told us that US marmalade is more like orange jam as it’s a lot sweeter than marmalade we have in the UK. As Glynis says, grape jelly/jam isn’t something that we come across over here, or I don’t shop in the right places either!
Now PB&J is something I always used to screw my face up at many years ago until an American friend got me to try it. It’s wonderful! I’ve had it in sandwiches and on toast. I don’t have a preferred flavour of jam to go with it but perhaps you can tell me if I should use smooth or crunchy peanut butter? I love it with either.
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The majority of PB&J sandwiches in the USA are made with smooth peanut butter.
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