Five Seasons of Jam

Love this jam book! I make jam all year long and I enjoy the different ingredients in this book! Will use for years to come!

Tired of strawberry, grape or apple jelly? Want to try a loquat recipe for the fruit off the neighborhood trees? No recipe too different, or unusual. Great addition.

I liked learning about jams. I found this book to be interesting. I felt that it was easy to read. It had a lot of great facts. There were some things that were very helpful, and some things that I already knew. Yet even when you already know something, hearing it again can be good to reinforce it.I felt that it was well written. It was easy to read and follow around. I think a lot of people would find it easy to read. It was a decent length and had a lot of content. It is fascinating.

This is a beautiful and eye-candy type of book featuring the Five Seasons of Jam by Lillie O'Brien. The book is an attractive hard back, with bright and bold pictures on every page, featuring the seasonality of fruits that O'Brien, a native Australian, discovered when working as a pastry chef at St. John Bread and Wine in London, where fruits were so fleetingly available by their seasons, and where she revisited her early love of pickling and preserving. O'Brien started making jam as a hobby at home, and ultimately opened a shop, the London Borough of Jam (LBJ)- still possibly London's only jam shop.This book has various recipes featuring sweet jams, vinegars, alcohol extractions and other fruit syrups and fruit based dishes. I enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures of the amazing fruit combinations that O'Brien put together, some that I would never think of, such as Fig & Earl Grey Jam, Boysenberry & Nasturtium Jam, or Pink Elderflower & Sage Vinegar, and some that I would be hard pressed to find the ingredients for, here in the US: Redcurrent and Verjuice (juice of unfermented, vinegary/lemony grapes), Loganberry & Candied Angelica Jam, Elderflower & Lovage Bubbles. I don't live in the UK, but I'm thinking it might even be difficult for the average city-dwelling Brit to get some of these ingredients easily.This is a work of love, clearly, and I'd love to visit O'Brien's jam shop if I goto London to purchase some of her creations. But, I don't think I can be making many of these jams w/o some significant, recipe changing substitutions.

This book dares you to dive into wild and new tastes with jam. Some sound really out there, and I have but tried just a few so far due to medical issues that prevent me from being in the kitchen nowhere near as much as I would like to be.This is a fun book for those who are tired of the same old same old and want to add pizzazz to their breads. Palates differ, and what I might like might not intrigue someone else too much. Just go for it and try them out, it is the only way to find out which ones of the extensive selection on recipes you like. You might just surprise yourself.

My fault for not being more observant but this book is not very helpful in the U.S. MOST OF THE FRUITS ARE NOT AVAILABLE. Pictures and recipes are first class. Too bad we cannot make them in the U.S.

While this is a lovely book, be aware that it is based on seasonal fruit/citrus/florals in the UK. Also, while the book is being distributed in the US, a separate edition was not made for the US. So, you get metric measurements all the way. But if you are a bit fanatical about jam-making, and if you try to avoid adding off-the-grocery-shelf pectin products to your jams, you should be able to seize the very astute and experienced advice and tips that Lillie O'Brien graciously shares with us and run with it.In fact, you might very well want to pounce on this book: It is filled with beautiful pictures and is written in a personable style. The recipes are not the usual offerings and the ingredient combinations are intriguing. There is definitely good information to be gleaned from this Five Seasons Of Jam.But don't look for substitutions for those hard-to-find UK ingredients, Ms. O'Brien does not provide any. You will have to adapt these recipes to suit your own seasonal fruit all on your own. Definitely review the Index that is provided in the "Look Inside" feature on this product page. It will help you decide if you can find substitutes for these fruits. Of course, you will find some recipes that you can use as is. But between helpful advice, those as-is recipes and the ones that you can find subs for, are there enough recipes that you can use that will give value to this purchase?

These jams are really very strange. In some cases, I didn't even know what some of the ingredients were for these jams! I don't know that many of these items we can even find where I live (or anywhere near). I like the process on some of these, and would like to try smaller batches like they put together. The florals, like elderflower, I "might" try in a small dose, but the other florals are not on my radar at this point.Look carefully through the list of jams and determine if you want really unique jams flavored with spices, nuts, and herbs.Also, you might consider what kind of access you have to certain ingredients. I would like to try some of these preserved citrus recipes and some of the pickles, but will have to see how readily I can get my hands on all of the ingredients. I'll try to update after I have tried some of them!

I love to make jams and jellies. And when I saw this book in a store on a trip to London, with its super-original recipes, I knew it had to be mine. Luckily, the Canadian release was only a month after we got back to Toronto. So, I didn't have to wait long to get my hands on my copy from Amazon.I bought this book for the intriguingly different flavour profiles of the recipes and because of its emphasis on making preserves in-season. The Medjool Date and Chestnut Jam immediately caught my eye, and it was the first recipe I tried. (Amazing!) Next up on my list are the Kumquat and Brandy marmalade and the Fig and Earl Grey jam. I also can't wait to try the Rhubarb Pistachio and Orange Blossom Jam when the first of my Rhubarb pops up in Spring. For someone who isn't all that interested in using commercial pectins to make jam, and who doesn't subscribe to the equal-parts-sugar-to-fruit philosophy of jamming (too sweet!), I've found my inspiration, here. (Yes, the measurements are by weight, but it is easy to follow any recipe with a cheap food scale or by consulting conversions online.)This book would certainly make a great gift for someone who is really into canning and might already have the "basics" or for anyone who is interested in cooking in-season with local ingredients. Yet, even for someone new to preserving, The London Borough of Jam has got you covered. I am a big-fan of the "Friends of Jam" list in the introduction, where she lists all of the teas, leaves, kernels, spices, wines and spirits, and flowers and herbs that can make a basic jam extraordinary. Proof positive you can be inspired by the book and head out on your own in no time.The lovely connection with nature in the book is truly inspiring. I love the idea of Five Seasons which correspond to the seasonality of the key ingredients for the jam recipes here. (Another cookbook I admire in this regard is Sarah Raven's excellent In Season). If you did nothing but kept this cookbook on your coffee table to dream over, you'd be happy.Of course, I've been cooking from it and loving the results. I even ended up buying a 14-inch copper preserving pan from Amazon in order to be more like Lillie! (Though, I went with the Matfer Bourgeat because it's lighter and half the price of a Mauviel! So far, it's been perfect!).A really wonderful book!

Ein tolles, sehr empfehlenswertes Buch von Lillie O'Brien, der sympathischen und erfahrenen Gründerin und Inhaberin von London Borough of Jam. Ich mag ihre Marmeladen und Rezepte sehr und versuche sie in den nächsten Monaten, je nach Saison, nach den Rezepten zu kochen, vieles ist mir vertraut, weil ich schon seit langem ähnlich experimentiere...und kombiniere, Kräuter mit Frucht je nach Saison und Verfügbarkeit und das Beste: alles ohne industriellem (Gelier-)zucker, "nur" mit Rohrohrzucker und frisch gepresstem Zitronensaft!! Keine Zusätze!!Beste Zutaten, beste Ergebnisse und natürlich viel Liebe&Leidenschaft, das gibt den Spirit!!

The most perfect cookbook. I never write reviews but felt compelled to share my love for this one - so many recipes I want to make! Gorgeous photography, beautiful storytelling and flavour combinations you never would have thought of.And not just jam!Admittedly many of the ingredients are difficult to source (I had trouble finding mulberries this year but am already looking forward to the hunt next year), but that has been part of the appeal to Lillie's beautiful recipes. I've developed a much stronger relationship with my greengrocer and am happy to tell anyone that will listen the going price per/kg of most fruit and veg.This book has made me get outside and amongst it, truly cooking with the seasons again. Bring on the Seville oranges!

Lovely presentation with beautiful photographs. Great recipe inspiration - can’t wait to try making them! Having tried the jams and other products in Lillie's shop I know they’ll taste delicious.

Beautiful book with clear instructions - I made the cranberry recipe for Thanksgiving and one of my guests liked the results so much she left with the book! I can't wait to get my new copy and try some more.