The ol' homestead

Strawberry Jammin Time (in pictures)

I was blessed with 2 flats of organic strawberry's this week and so I have been making strawberry jam. I had enough to make 3 batches or 27 half-pints. I wanted to share with you how easy it is to do and impress on you the utmost importance on safety while canning. If you get into the habit of ALWAYS canning the recommended way then you will never have any worry. Recommended means up to date -not grandma's old canning book.

First you grab a kid.... any old kid will do. If their not willing to work withhold food half a day and ask again. A kid will make the difference in things going faster. (Unless you grab a teen...)

In my case this is the kid I grabbed today.

First you take some strawberries and wash them...

Then you grab that kid and have them hull them....See how happy the kid is now?

And then you mash them (a potato masher works fine here)

I sprinkle on a little fruit fresh to keep' em nice. (man is that stuff great or what?!)

Get your lids and jars sterilizing...

Cook up your jam according to your recipe and fill up your jars...(notice the teen is now happy to work for food too)

Then you start on a new batch...

And when it is all done, grab a glass of diet coke, sit down for a few minutes while contemplating whether or not to pop one of those sweet baby's open. Then go ahead and cut a chunk off that fresh bread you have and slather it on, and enjoy every bite. See how yummy it looks?

Oh... sorry... Gee I guess I didn't get a picture of that -I was too busy stuffing it in my mouth. Then stand back and ADMIRE all those beautiful jars of jam that will taste so good all winter long. Mmm Mmm.

Or get a friend!

11:31, Friday, August 22, 2008 .. Posted by vgauthier

My daughter and I make several types of jams/jellies every year, but this year we have a friend who moved here from Alaska and had never made jam, so I enlisted her help to make jam ~ she had a ball! (and of course some jam to go!) Between her and my dd, all I had to do was give instructions and watch!! What a gig, I think I'll do that every time I make jam...hmmm...I wonder if it would work for all the beans I have to put up this weekend...lol!

Oh, and the recipe?

11:32, Friday, August 22, 2008 .. Posted by vgauthier

for the apple maple jam ~ I'd be really interested!!
val