Blackberry jam or how simple things can be amazing

Hi everyone! Yes, I'm back in Barcelona. Back from my dad's town. Back from the best three weeks of the summer. I guess that's good enough of an excuse to have been a little disappeared for a while. That and the really really bad internet connection over there. 

You might be wondering what have I been doing. It's hard to compress everything that's happened in a sentence or even a paragraph. I told you about my dad's town holidays. The bulls, the party, serving drinks, lack of sleep but lots of fun. 

The holidays were over on the 14th and ever since I've been just relaxing and enjoying the really good company of my friends. I'm a lucky girl, I have amazing friends. It doesn't matter if I haven't seen them in two years or two months, everything is always just in place.

We've laughed a lot and lived in a very Spanish lifestyle for a couple weeks. Waking up late, going to the bar for a beer before lunch, for a coffee after lunch and for drinks at night. We've been just hanging out without any pretension. Vacation with them is not about going to fancy places for dinner or staying at expensive hotels. It's about having dinner all together in our 'garito' and falling asleep on the couch.

Needless to say, I've been eating a whole bunch. On the tapas side there's been a lot of 'bravas' (spicy potatoes), 'puntilla' (fried in batter 'chipiron' head), 'rabo' (pig's tail) and so on and so forth. I also got to eat my aunt's paella again. Quite amazing, I'll tell you more about it soon. And the recipe for Spanish omelette will be posted soon too.

This is a simple recipe, just like the simply amazing life I've been living this month. I really love wild blackberries and they grow insanely, if you let them, in every corner of my dad's town. So much so that farmers have to burn the bushes down so they don't cover their trees. Still, there's plenty to pick. My parents and I picked 3 1/2 cups that went to this wonderful jam.

It's not too sweet, but you could make it sweeter if you want. I didn't strain it but if you're not a fan of seeds you might want to do so. It has an intense flavor and I find it a wonderful breakfast. Even though my friend Pablo doesn't quite like blackberries anymore (ate too many of them once as a kid), this recipe is dedicated to him. Just because I'm lucky to be his friend and to have been able to try his tomato omelette which I'll make sure to post soon! By the way, wish him luck on his last nursing school exam!

Blackberry jam

3 1/2 cups blackberries

1 cup sugar

Rind of a lemon, just the yellow part, not the white, whole

Juice of half a lemon

Crush the blackberries with a spoon, fork or a masher so they release the juices. Put them in a pan along with the sugar and the lemon rind. Cook them at low heat for about 30 minutes and keep mashing them. The pectin in the lemon rind will make the jam come together. Alternatively, you can use pectin if you want to. The jam will thicken as it cools down. 

Note: I'd avoid using any wooden spoons or utensils for this recipe. The blackberries will stain the wood and getting them clean isn't easy.