This whole thing started because I was craving something sweet to eat and I had a bad case of the "Mother Hubbard Syndrome" (empty kitchen pantry).

I looked under the broccoli for my secret stash of chocolate and it was gone. I looked in the refrigerator and it was barren of any fruit. I looked on the pantry shelves and nothing, not even a tiny cookie or a little piece of Halloween candy to be found. My hungry boys have been on midterm eating binge and cleaned out the house!

Then, I opened the freezer and on the bottom most shelf was a bag of frozen cranberries and a half bag of consolidated  strawberries that froze in a hard block.  Hmm… I thought to myself I wonder if I can do something was these bits and bobs…

I tossed my cranberries and strawberries in a small little sauce pan and put in a little water to see if I could bring these fruits back to life. I threw in a little of ginger just for good measure and this is the secret ingredient.

A lovely sweet aroma rose from the pot. I then added a wee bit of ginger to warm up my soul and a bit of honey to satisfy my sweet tooth. The most amazing thing started to happen as my cranberries burst and the strawberries gave up their amazing sweet essence. The mixture started to thicken and intensify in flavour in just a few short minutes. It had the consistency of my dad’s homemade jam without a drop of sugar. It had the warmth of soothing warming ginger tea that my mom would make when I was little and the essence  and fragrance of  an early Thanksgiving dinner in my kitchen.

I decided to call this little happy accident, “Bammer's Jammers” as this is one quick refrigerator jam that goes perfect with the holidays coming quickly around the corner.  I know we will all have extra guests over the holidays and what a perfect way to wakeup on thanksgiving morning with a cranberry strawberry jam on top of your croissants and English muffins to start your day.

This jam is a little bit sweet, a little bit sour and a little bit warming because of the ginger.  Can you imagine how great this would be over your waffles or in thumb print jam cookies or as a filling for a cake?  How about drizzled on top of ice cream or as a side to your crumpets?

For me, this was the perfect afternoon tea. I slathered this aromatic Bammers Jammers on top of my gluten-free cardboard (rice cakes) with a bit of almond butter and I was in second heaven.

Why do you suppose rice cakes get such a bad wrap? I know rice cakes are boring. I know they are plain and yes they indeed have the texture of a cardboard box but for me they are the perfect vehicle to transport my sweet and warming jam from plate to my mouth.

I took all of my photos and was delighted as I wanted to post this recipe a few days ago and then a slight hiccup in my plan. My eldest son had a school project due and had to borrow my camera and by some unhappy accident, poof! My pictures have vanished from my memory card and so had my jam. My Bammer's Jammers did not even last 2 days in my house.

This gave me the fine opportunity to test and retest my jam in Bam's Kitchen and made it a second time with a delightful result. I also tried my Bammers Jammers on top of a toasted gluten-free English Muffin with a tad bit of butter and it was sublime.

If you can make jam this fast and this delicious in less than 15 minutes with only 4 ingredients and none of them sugar, why would you ever buy that nasty stuff off the shelves in the super market again?

I just called my parents to wish them a Happy Anniversary! 67 years of marital bliss! How special is that?! I chatted with my dad about none other than what he was cooking today and he said he was making some blueberry jam. Great minds think alike ! I might just have to give this recipe a go with other fruits and see how it goes.

Wishing all of you a super week.