JAM!!

 This weekend I took Doodle to do something I always loved doing with my mom, picking strawberries! I will always remember going in May to a local strawberry farm and picking for what seemed like forever, only to then go home and make freezer jam with my mom. Nothing will ever taste as good a warm strawberry fresh from the field! We went to a local farm about 30 mins away from us and picked 2 gallons of their biggest, sweetest berries. After I picked my gallon, I looked down to see that Scarlet only had about 8 berries in her bucked. Then I realized she was doing way more tasting than picking! Love that girl! When we got home, I even got Jake in on the action by helping me hull all those berries. It was fun talking to him about all the things our families would can growing up. Our jam turned out great, and we even passed a few jars out already. My recipe comes from the back of the Ball Real Fruit Pectin jar.

 Strawberry Jam

Makes 2 (8 oz) half pints of jam

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups hulled strawberries

3 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons pectin

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

Directions

Sterilize jars and lids. Combine strawberries and lemon juice in an 8 quart saucepan. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim foam.

Ladle hot jam into hot jars, one at a time, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars. Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight.

Place filled jars in hot water bath covered by 2 inches of water. Bring to a gentle steady boil. Process jars for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let jars stand for 5 minutes.

Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

The gentleman where we bought the strawberries, said that peaches will be ready in about 2 weeks. I think I see more jam in our future!!