Summer Strawberry Jam
Summer is in the air!!! One of the things I miss about being back home is the strawberries that grew in my dad's backyard. They were always so sweet and juicy. We'd always be snacking on them while we did yard work... that part I don't miss so much :). With strawberry season getting closer and closer I've been dying to make some good strawberry jam. There is no jam in this world that I love more than my moms... it is perfect and what makes it even better is it requires pretty much no effort at all. What more could you ask for? While Brady and I were at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago, they were selling strawberries (1 lb. packages) for .99 cents... I knew I couldn't hold off any longer! For about $10, we made 5 containers of freezer jam and we've already gone through two of them! I have a feeling we will be doing this again before the summer ends! Here is what you need:
4 cups Crushed Strawberries (4, 1 lb. packages)
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 Ball Instant Fruit Pectin package (There are other pectin brands but this recipe is specifically for Ball. What I love about Ball is they use WAY less sugar than the other brands)
Start off by washing and hulling your strawberries. Set aside to dry.
In a small bowl combine the pectin and sugar. Set aside.
I started cutting up the strawberries super small and trying to squish them with the bottom of a cup. It was taking forever when my sweet Brady came in and asked why I wasn't using the blender... genius!! What would I do without him? It saved me so much time so don't make the mistake I did and just use a blender or a food processor if you have one. I didn't throw all of the strawberries in at once, I broke it up into a few batches so I could gauge if it was getting too thin/chunky and pour into a large bowl.
Once you have smashed/blended all of your strawberries, pour the pectin/sugar mixture into the bowl of strawberries and mix for a good 3 minutes. At the end of the 3 minutes you will have a gorgeous bowl of strawberry jam and possibly a very sore arm... but it's totally worth it :).
Let the strawberry jam sit for 30 minutes before you start separating it into containers. These also make great neighbor gifts. I'm planning on taking them to the girls I visit teach this month with some rolls (these ones).. yum!!
Enjoy! :)
There's nothing better than strawberry freezer jam!!!
ReplyDeleteYum! Dan loves Strawberry jam, I'll have to make this sometime. It looks so good!
ReplyDeleteLook so good! I have bee wanting to make some this summer.
ReplyDeleteoh my scrumptious!!!! this looks amazing!!
ReplyDeletexo TJ