Six months ago, I stopped buying jam and solved a fresh fruit waste problem that has plagued my kitchen since I had children. No, I did not go cold turkey on my jam and biscuit pleasures. Instead I made a weekly ritual of putting last week's fruit to its best end by making a single jar of fruit jam.

We often thinking of jam making as a long, arduous process that requires our full attention. The single jar of jam is just the opposite — something you can prep and put on the stovetop while you put the groceries away or make lunches for the week.

The Single Jar of Jam: A Solution for Wasted Fruit

Here's how my journey into the single jar of fruit jam began: Every week my daughter would ask for a quart of strawberries from the grocery store, and every week, she'd eat a few berries and I'd find the berries, shrinking, sullen in the back of the fridge during my Friday fridge clear-out session. One week, jam ran out at the same time these berries were pulled from the fridge, so I set my sights on a single jar of jam.

Then, each week I found pleasure in throwing whatever reasonable fruit was wasting away in the fridge into the jam pot. And because the resulting jar of jam was petite in size, I found we easily ate it within the week and could start the ritual all over again.

Read more: A Single Jar of Refrigerator Jam

How to Make a Jar of Jam in Less than 30 Minutes

• Chop or mash the fruit. Rinse the fruit and chop larger fruit into small pieces. Combine the fruit with the sugar in a small pot and mash the fruit with a wooden spoon. This helps the fruit release some juices and begins the jam process.
• Bring the jam to a boil. Bring the jam to a boil, but once boiling, reduce the heat slightly and keep a steady simmer. This will allow you to cook the jam without scorching while you putter around the kitchen, making lunches or cleaning.
• Cook the jam until thickened. Continue to cook and stir the pot of jam as it thickens and becomes jammy. It will take about 20 minutes for the jam to reach the desired thickness. Then you can move it to the jar for refrigerator storage.

Storing and Serving Your Jam

Because this jam isn't canned, it must be stored in the fridge or freezer. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks (although I've never had it last that long) or freeze for one month and defrost in fridge overnight before using.