I did it again.
I bought way too many strawberries.
They looked good. They smelled good. I wanted them.
When I got home, I was literally swimming in a sea of strawberries.
No person could eat this many strawberries, I thought. Not even me. So, I got crafty, and made jam.
It was extremely quick and easy. Not the way I remember jam making to be.
When I was young (lets say five), I used to visit my grandma during the summers. She used to make lots and lots of jam.
I have fond memories of her looking cute with a scarf in her hair, a frilly little apron, and yellow gloves all the way up her arms.
I would stare intently from the other room, watching the huge cauldron on top of the stove, boiling like an erupting volcano. It always scared me, that big boiling pot of water.
She (my grandma) would carefully drop each jar into the water, followed by the lid. She would then repeat this process over and over. At five, this seemed like forever. She also seemed really brave for going near that volcano.
This being my only memory of jam making, you can imagine how shocked I was, when my jam took only 20 minutes to make. I didn't even have to battle any erupting volcanos. Although, I am now much braver and probably could. Maybe.
You know - I bet a 5 year old could make this jam. I'm not suggesting that a 5 year old should make it. I'm just betting that they probably could.
I bought way too many strawberries.
They looked good. They smelled good. I wanted them.
When I got home, I was literally swimming in a sea of strawberries.
No person could eat this many strawberries, I thought. Not even me. So, I got crafty, and made jam.
It was extremely quick and easy. Not the way I remember jam making to be.
When I was young (lets say five), I used to visit my grandma during the summers. She used to make lots and lots of jam.
I have fond memories of her looking cute with a scarf in her hair, a frilly little apron, and yellow gloves all the way up her arms.
I would stare intently from the other room, watching the huge cauldron on top of the stove, boiling like an erupting volcano. It always scared me, that big boiling pot of water.
She (my grandma) would carefully drop each jar into the water, followed by the lid. She would then repeat this process over and over. At five, this seemed like forever. She also seemed really brave for going near that volcano.
This being my only memory of jam making, you can imagine how shocked I was, when my jam took only 20 minutes to make. I didn't even have to battle any erupting volcanos. Although, I am now much braver and probably could. Maybe.
You know - I bet a 5 year old could make this jam. I'm not suggesting that a 5 year old should make it. I'm just betting that they probably could.
All you need is strawberries.........
use those muscles (might be hard if your five).....
and mashed.
Finally, you will need to add some pectin.... and sugar. lots and lots of sugar. I mean 4 cups.
I think this is too much sugar for me (is that even possible?).
Next time, I will try making jam with no-sugar-needed-fruit-pectin (just for comparison's sake). This sounds good, right? Maybe?
I think this is too much sugar for me (is that even possible?).
Next time, I will try making jam with no-sugar-needed-fruit-pectin (just for comparison's sake). This sounds good, right? Maybe?
[Print Recipe]
Strawberry Freezer Jam Recipe
{SURE.JELL Recipe}
Ingredients
2 cups of mashed strawberries
4 cups of sugar (wow)
3/4 cup of water
1 box of SURE.JELL fruit pectin
1. Wash, de-stem, and dry the strawberries. You want your strawberries to be ripe, but not overly ripe.
2. In a large bowl, mash the strawberries with a potato masher (1 cup at a time) or pulse in a food processor. You want small pieces left intact. Mix with sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Wowzer, this is a lot of sugar. Adjusting the amount of sugar is not advised, because the pectin wont set.
3. In a small sauce pan, bring the water and pectin to a boil. Make sure you continuously stir the pectin. Once the water has boiled, continue boiling for one more minute and then remove from the heat.
4. Once the strawberries have sat for 10 minutes, stir in the pectin water.
5. Pour the mixture into small containers. Let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours, so the pectin can work its magic.
6. Store in the fridge for 3 weeks or in the freezer for one year.
Strawberry Freezer Jam Recipe
{SURE.JELL Recipe}
Ingredients
2 cups of mashed strawberries
4 cups of sugar (wow)
3/4 cup of water
1 box of SURE.JELL fruit pectin
1. Wash, de-stem, and dry the strawberries. You want your strawberries to be ripe, but not overly ripe.
2. In a large bowl, mash the strawberries with a potato masher (1 cup at a time) or pulse in a food processor. You want small pieces left intact. Mix with sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Wowzer, this is a lot of sugar. Adjusting the amount of sugar is not advised, because the pectin wont set.
3. In a small sauce pan, bring the water and pectin to a boil. Make sure you continuously stir the pectin. Once the water has boiled, continue boiling for one more minute and then remove from the heat.
4. Once the strawberries have sat for 10 minutes, stir in the pectin water.
5. Pour the mixture into small containers. Let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours, so the pectin can work its magic.
6. Store in the fridge for 3 weeks or in the freezer for one year.
