Sunday we arrived home from a trip to Oregon, which I shall be posting about sometime soon. We drove down of the fourth and spend several days there afterwards. I've also been busy doing different things for my homeschool graduation at the end of the month, which is going to be a big Contra Dance with lots friends. I'm super, duper excited for that, cause dancing is one of my most very favorite things to do! But right now I'm here to share some yummy strawberry jam I made.
---
At the end of June, we went strawberry picking for the first time in quite a few years. Even though it was cloudy, it was fairly warm out and soon we were ready to leave, after we had picked 35lbs of berries!
Jam had been something that I thought would be neat to make, but always seemed a bit intimidating, because of all the boiling of the cans and lids, keeping them sterile, etc.. Another thing I didn't like was all the sugar that was used in the recipes. I always try to make my food low to no sugar or use something like honey or maple syrup instead. So after finding a recipe online with just four ingredients, plus it used honey instead of sugar, I decided to can some jam for the first time.
The recipe was quite simple and preparing all the jars wasn't that bad. Since I didn't have a canning rack (or whatever they call it) for in the bottom of the pot, I used a few old towels so the jars didn't touch the ground or rattle against each other. I also just used regular tongs since that was what I had. The only thing I would want next time is a canning funnel, cause that would make getting the jam into the jars way easier.
And how does it taste? It's delicious. Everyone likes it and Daniel, who uses jam pretty much daily, has only been using this stuff every day instead of the store bought jelly from Trader Joe's. Now I call that a success!
Oh, how fun! We canned grape jelly one year... we haven't since just because we don't generally eat jelly a lot, especially grape, and it used SO much sugar! Last year we helped friends can tomatoes and applesauce though, and that was really fun. I enjoy canning though it does take a lot of time and work.
ReplyDeleteStrawberry jam sounds yummy and like something I would actually eat - especially if it has honey!
I don't usually it that much either, but I can't get enough of this homemade jam! I agree, canning is fun, but it does take a bit of work.
DeleteLooks (and sounds) absolutely delicious, Sereina. I helped my friend can peach jam once. Very messy, but it turned out for the better! I love it on biscuits especially.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's a beautiful red color!