Thanks JohnDeereGal and Carol, your suggestions are appreciated. I'm really surprised Certo doesn't have a recipe for this. I read where someone else used the regular recipe for jam but increased the amount of berries so I decided to go for it. Of course she was talking about cooked jam, but she said if the recipe called for 3 cups of berries, she added an extra 2 cups (total 5). I usually make a double batch, but decided to try a single first. The Certo recipe calls for 2 cups of berries so I added an extra 1-1/3 cups. I also added just a dash of vanilla extract. I figured the extra berries would be pretty tart. Other than that I followed the freezer jam recipe. I won't know for sure until tomorrow, it needs to set up for 24 hours. BUT...we couldn't wait! Had pancakes for dinner and tried some. YUM! I compared the jam I made to the syrup and the syrup is definitely a bit more tart but the slight vanilla undertone was surprisingly good. Still thin though--tomorrow I hope it thickens just a bit. Thanks again, this will make awesome Christmas gifts! Linda

Kathy I haven't made any yet. I don't know how to get the stuff to look like graham crackers and chocolate. There are gals here who have made them I hope they can help.

Oh those are so pretty. I've been afraid of using kitchen torches but now I'm tempted... Last week I was whipping up a Swiss Meringue buttercream for cupcakes and it had the same procedure for the egg/sugar. I remember tasting it and thinking it tasted like marshmallows. :) The only difference was whipping in butter afterwards, which changed the taste and made an amazing silky texture. I was actually thinking of you, Momto4kids, because I remember your post about that cooked frosting. A lot of the bakeries use the swiss meringue buttercream so if you haven't tried it, you might want to. Gorgeous texture and nice flavor with vanilla and almond.

Ya know, Dances, you can always make those convenience products from scratch if you want. Personally, I prefer the freshness of home-made, and would never even consider buying something like a jar of roasted red peppers etc. I do agree with your feelings about using just a small amount of a special product. I just went through that with tamarind. Needed just a walnut-sized piece of pulp, but the smallest package was a full pound. Leafy: Nothing surprises me when it comes to how much people need to have their hands held. I remember a story Friend Wife and I did, "In Search of the Perfect Crabcake." Basically, it was a tour of Maryland's Eastern Shore based on food tripping. Folks repeated that trip all summer. With copies of the article clutched in their hands they'd visit only the restaurants we mentioned, and would order, in each one, exactly what we had eaten there.