How sweet it is…

I think strawberries are a very dependable fruit.  I know what to do with a strawberry.  On cereal, in smoothies, with fresh cream and a little sugar, dipped in chocolate… all strawberries.

My grandfather’s favorite dessert (or one of them, he had a very sweet tooth for a man who was a beanpole most of his life!) was strawberry shortcake.  So I quickly learned how to make a good strawberry shortcake, which is still my go-to dessert when I really, really want to make something people-pleasing.

One thing I have never done, in any way, is to can anything, let alone strawberry jam.  But I was really excited to give it a try, because there is something really satisfying about creating something from whole ingredients that in the end looks like something you could buy in a store.

So… without further ado…. my first jam!  (You can slow down the slideshow by rolling over it and hitting the stop/advance buttons)

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Overall, definitely a positive experience.  I have my eye on a few more recipes for canned goods that came with my canning supplies – especially with my tomato plants growing like gangbusters!  (There I go with those vegetable garden teasers – just making sure everyone keeps reading….)

A few things I learned along the way:

1) The boiling jam is HOT, people.  It’s hot, and it spatters, so beware.

2) You don’t need a lot of fancy supplies, just tongs you can use to grab the jars, the jars themselves, and a pot big enough to cover the jars with water plus a couple inches above them.  The funnel I got was helpful, but not 100% necessary.

3) It’s not especially hard or time-consuming.  From cutting strawberries to putting the final product out to cool, it probably took a little over 90 minutes.  If I did it again, it would take even less time.

4) Sterilize more jars than you think you need – that way if there’s more than you think there will be, you have the jars ready to go.

Go forth and make jam!

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