We Be Jammin'

Well, not that kind of jammin', but we did make some delicious homemade strawberry jam. A friend and I bought some fresh strawberries from a local fruit stand this past week. We talked about how it would be nice to make jam. She had done it before. So I went back the next day and bought more strawberries and last night the kids and I made jam. I have some memories of watching my grandmother make jam and my mom and grandmother canning vegetables, but I still needed to do some research. Thank goodness for the internet. Once I had all of the equipment and ingredients together the process was much easier than I had anticipated. That isn't to say it wasn't a long process. The only thing I would do differently is finding a place to pick our own strawberries. We made two batches last night and we have enough strawberries to make one more batch today. We will be adding this to the list of family traditions. Didn't I feel like June Cleaver, Martha Stewart or Caroline Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie) watching my kids have toast with homemade (can't say that enough) strawberry jam for breakfast this morning. Another great summer memory.


Mommy hulling the strawberries.


Hailey measuring the sugar.


Hannah mashing the strawberries. I read that using a blender is much easier, but I knew the kids would really enjoy this step.

Rachel mashing the berries.

Aaron stirring the berries. We did a lot of stirring.

The berries boiling. There was a lot of boiling.

The finished product after putting it in jars and going through the proper sealing process. A couple have a bit of foam on the top. That won't hurt anything, but I will make sure to skim that all off the next time.

The kids are excited to make some deliveries to the neighbors this afternoon.