Similar to last year (and, in fact, every year since Max was born), we did our annual trip to the strawberry fields and picked a couple of flats.
It was a good day for it--still plenty hot, but bearable (about two weeks ago). Max and Leo did a fair job of picking versus eating. If I had to guess, I'd put the ratio at a solid 4 to 1.
William pretty much just wandered up and down the rows, fascinated.
(Yes, I always dress the boys in red shirts when we strawberry pick. Ask me how I've learned....)
Once we were home, I hulled and prepped the mountain of berries. Some were sent to the freezer as whole berries, packed in a simple syrup. I love freezing strawberries this way for later use in syrups or other dessert toppings.
But about 20 cups or so were sliced up for two batches of strawberry jam.
I am really getting into canning (I think a pressure canner is inching its way up on my wishlist). I especially love seeing all the pretty jars lined up, waiting to be filled. How I wish I could find somewhere local to buy Weck jars; they are so lovely. Until then, I'm enjoying the quilted jam jars I picked up last year on sale at the end of the summer.
This year I tried a new recipe...strawberry vanilla jam from the blog Food in Jars. Both the blog and the jam recipe are crazy addictive, just so you know. The recipe is lower in sugar than most and the addition of lemon and vanilla is just heaven in my book. And I say this even though the first batch never set--it's no bother for us as we've enjoyed it as a syrup every weekend over our pancakes or crepes. For the second batch, I added in a bit more pectin and it set beautifully (though it did take a couple of days). I always make such a wreck in the kitchen when I make large batches of jam. But it's quite worth it, I say.
We've gifted a fair share of our jars, with little picture notecards of the boys proudly picking the berries. But we've also tucked plenty in the pantry for the year.
Go to Marisa's gorgeous post for pictures of the process and the full recipe. But because I plan to print my blog as a keepsake, I've also copied the recipe here, along with my notes, after the jump.
xoxo, Sandra
linking up here:
Strawberry Jam Recipe
- 10-11 cups of chopped strawberries (preferably macerated with a split vanilla bean and two cups of sugar over night) **Sandra's note: I did not have a vanilla bean, so I added 2 tsp pure vanilla extract at the end of the cooking time, see below**
- 5 cups of sugar (this makes 7 cups total)
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced
- 2 packets of liquid pectin (that’s one box total) **Sandra's note: I was nervous after my first batch did not set, so on my second batch, I added another 1/2 packet of pectin. It took a couple of days but the jam did set**
Fill your canning pot 2/3 with water and put on the stove to bring to a boil (I used a large stock pot for this much jam).
Put berries, sugar and lemon zest/juice in a large pot and cook over medium high heat for about fifteen minutes. You want to really boil the fruit down so that they begin to look syrup-y. If you have an immersion blender, use it at this point to puree some of the fruit. If you don’t, use a blender to puree about half the jam (working in batches, you don’t want hot jam to splash you). Add the blended jam back to the whole fruit jam. Bring to a boil and squeeze in the pectin. At this point, there will be a bunch of foam on top of the jam. Skim the foam with a large spoon. Let boil for approximately ten minutes more, until the jam looks very syrup-y (when boiling, it should resemble boiling candy).
Lay out your clean jars, you’ll need approximately seven pints or 14 half pint jars. Put your lids in a saucepan of hot water in order to soften the sealing compound. Bring a kettle to a boil now as well, in case you need a bit more boiling water for your canning pot.
Fill the jars. Wipe the rims with the edge of a towel dipped in boiling water. Top with lids and screw on rings. Put a rack or folded towel into the bottom of your canning pot (you don’t want the jars to be in direct contact with the bottom of your pot). Carefully lower the jars into the boiling water. You can stack them one on top of the other if need be.
Process for ten minutes in the boiling water. When time is up, remove the jars from the water and put them on a towel on the counter. They should begin to ping fairly quickly, indicated that they’re sealed. If any of your jars don’t seal, make sure to refrigerate them