Summer favorite

As a little girl, one of the things I looked forward to most each summer was in early June when my mom would make her homemade strawberry jam. As soon as it was ready, we would make PB&Js all around, because there's nothing better than fresh (really fresh!) jam oozing out of soft, white bread and complimented perfectly by peanut butter. YUM!

Mom and I had talked a few times earlier this year that I was thinking about making some jam myself, and when she and my dad came to visit this past weekend, we set the plan in motion.

David and my dad went off to the Memorial tournament on Saturday (gotta love free tickets!), so Mom and I put Noah down for his afternoon nap and got jamming.

Here's mom washing & trimming the berries. We had two quarts (I think quarts... two plastic containers from your local grocer, whatever size they may be).

All clean!

Then it was my job to blend them up, ever so slightly to make a strawberry puree.

I needed two cups of strawberry puree per batch.


You dump your puree into a bowl, then you add a serious amount of sugar—four cups! If I had thought about this further in advance, I would have bought splenda. I bet it would have worked just as well. Then you stir the mixture just until incorporated (with mom telling me that above all else, don't overstir!). When it's mixed, it has to sit for 10 minutes.


About minute 8 of that 10, you put 3/4 of a cup of water in a small bowl with one box of pectin. You bring it to a boil, then let it boil for one minute, this time stirring constantly.


Take the pectin off the burner and add it to the puree.


Mix for three minutes, stirring constantly.

Once it's all mixed together, you pour it into jars with seals/lids and watch for a few minutes to make sure the pectin is setting up properly (I'm not sure how to tell the difference, but my mom told me a few stories about how she had to dump out the jam in the past and add another box of pectin...all better!).

My two quarts of berries made 11 small jars of jam. And it is delicious! I've been having more PB&J & toast just so I can have a bite of that sweet, sugary, strawberry goodness.

I have to say, it really was an easy process. And if you discount the cost of the jars (which I won't have to buy from here on out), the 11 jars of jam cost about $10. Delicious AND economical. That's my kind of food!