A First: Making Strawberry Jam

Making jam last week and this week was a delightful first for me.  I wanted to make it last summer, but comprehensive exams may or may not have stood in the way.  Oh, and moving.  That stood in the way too.

This year, I was determined to pick and freeze strawberries, as well as make jam.  While it's not the season yet for a lot of you, and the farms here are saying it will be another week or so for us, I did do some price checking.  At Costco, they are selling the berries for ten cents a pound less than the you-pick place I know of.  You can guess, right, that I did not wait to pick my own?

Because I'll do a lot to save a dime, but if I save a dime and actually work less to save it?  Sign me up.

And because there are changes coming in our household, and I don't know from day to day what I'll be doing or where I'll be, let alone where I'll be living by July.  (That surprise place may come before then, even).

Thus, NOW is a good time for strawberries.  They won't go in the freezer, since frozen goods don't travel well.  And rather than give up on preserving berries because life is full of change, I want to be resilient in the midst of the changes.  Which means preserving so that the berries will not be perishable.  Which means making jam.  And possibly fruit leather....but that doesn't last long when I'm around!

As a result, there are a dozen or so little jam jars sitting full around the house, ready to be packed for a move or eaten, whichever comes first.

{Being ignorant of jam making and somewhat in a hurry since the strawberries were already in my car, I just bought pectin and followed the recipe on the container.  It worked exactly like it said it would, and the jam is yummy.  In the future, though, I want to try low- or no-sugar options, or freszer jam.  Would love to see recipes and hear experiences from any of my readers who know more than I do!}