Strawberry Jammin'

Yesterday afternoon my wonderful Dad bought fresh strawberries for me to make into jam! I came home from work and the 12 baskets he bought for me made the kitchen smell like a strawberry patch! Yummy! Dad made two baskets into sugar coated strawberries (a great snack at any hour) and I made seven into jam this morning!

I don't really know why I like making strawberry jam so much. I never eat store-bought jam, but mine I love the taste! As is my norm, I base my recipe off the one in Ball's Blue Book of Preserving and add a bit of my own twist (which will be even twistier next year).

Strawberry Jam

2 quarts strawberries
1 package powdered pectin
7 cups sugar
Honey (I really don't know how much...maybe 1/2 a cup)

Wash and drain strawberries, remove stems and crush. Combine strawberries and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Stir in honey and sugar. Bring back to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute or until gelling point (I'll explain that shortly) stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into hot jars leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Make sure to label and date the jars before storing them in your pantry...it's never nice to eat mystery canned goods. Oh, it make about 7 or 8 half-pint jars of jam.

Okay, as promised an explaination of "gelling point". If you want jam (and not ice-cream topping) you need to make sure you jam is gelled. To do this I put a metal spoon in the freezer when I start. When I think it is getting close to gelling, I pull the spoon out of the freezer, dip it in the boiling jam-to-be and pull it out and away from the steaming pot. If the jam is still syrupy it is not even close. Wash off the spoon and stick it back in the freezer. Keep that pot boiling and constantly stir. I go for about two to five minutes before testing it again. When you've reach the gelling point the jam falls off the spoon in a sheet. You can also use a candy/jelly thermometer.

Just an observation, this batch of jam came out super dark! It looks very cool! And it tastes super yummy!