Strawberry jam

One of my favorite parts of summer is strawberries. Even better is getting to enjoy them year round in jam form. When I was growing up my mom used to make strawberry freezer jam. I LOVE this jam and have made it several times. The process has gotten easier over the years with the different types of pectin that they now make. We use this jam for Andrew's lunches throughout the school year. I was running out of time this year, so I made a last minute decision to pickup some strawberries at Costco and make some jam one night. The time ended up being from 10 pm to midnight, but at least it got done! Step one is the longest part - cleaning and removing the tops. Then they get blended in the food processor and measured out.

Then mixed with the sugar and pectin for 3 minutes and poured into containers. They have to set for half an hour before they can be frozen.

I chose these smaller containers this year in hopes that they would fit in my small freezer better. The other reason is that when you put the jam in large containers it tends to get a bit runny after a while in the refrigerator.

Now on for a year of enjoyment! I was talking to my friend Sara about jam and she was saying that we should go to Watsonville to pick our berries next year. My mom also used to do this when we were kids. I think that Andrew and Claire would really like this, I just need to remember to do it early enough.