After braving the rain this Saturday to hit up the first Farmer's Market of the Summer, I came home with strawberries galore to make strawberry jam. I've never made jam in my life. My mom didn't do such things when we were kids (nor does she do such things now), despite having been raised doing such things. Come to find out, her mother had a 100 ft X 50 ft garden with every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine growing in a garden. Her mother canned all summer long, preserving all those fruits and vegetables for her family to eat throughout the long New Jersey winters. The urge to preserve fruits must skip generations or something.
My mom did, however, help me make my jam. We sterilized, we hulled, we mushed, we boiled and stirred and stirred and boiled and then we ladled and spilled boiling hot, sugary jam and stickied everything up. Then we stuck the lids on and waited for the popping to begin. We waited and waited and just as my mom started to argue with me about whether or not the lids really need to pop, one popped. Sweet satisfaction.
The process of making jam is really not hard. It's a little time consuming, but the process is actually quite fun. I used a recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Here it is:
2 qts. fresh strawberries, hulled
1 1 3/4-ounce package of regular powdered fruit pectin
1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine (I'm not sure why this is an ingredient)
7 cups of sugar (*gasp*)
Place 1 cup of berries in an 8-qt heavy kettle/pot. Crush berries. Continue adding berries and crushing until you have 5 cups crushed berries. (I used a food processor, but kept the mixture chunky) Stir in pectin and butter. Heat on high, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Add sugar all at once. Return to boiling; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon. Ladle at once into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Process in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to a boil). Remove jars; cool on racks for 12 to 24 hours.
TDH has requested peach jam, so this may become a habit. I'm hoping to hold out and use our own peaches off our peach tree for that, though. Wouldn't that be great?? My grandmother would be so proud.
Grandma would be very proud and surprised. I am very proud and surprised. Can't wait to try some.
nice work! we love making jam!! We just made some strawberry from 'side of the road' strawberries recently. I made peach last year, as well as blackberry and plum from our own bushes/trees - yum!! I'm going to be 'putting up' a bunch of stuff from our own garden this year, too - with a giant pressure canner that my MIL gave me :D
the only canning i ever did was with my old boss when i was a cook; we made some unsuccessful cranberry jam. i'm totally intimidated. so it goes without saying, i'm impressed you jumped right in and did it!
I am so jealous! I love home made jams! There is just something about them that makes them so much better then the store kind. Kudos!
I am totally impressed and jealous!! I want some now!!
Ok....I think I could maybe do that!!!
Doing your Grandma proud! I'd like to request strawberry, peach and blueberry please!
Can you at least use raw sugar I wonder?
The butter must be for efficiency, so you don't have to butter your toast...its all in the jam!
I am so excited, I want jam for my birthday!!!
I"m super impressed.
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