A few days ago, I purchased a few quarts of this summer’s last strawberries. Plump, ripe, and royal red, I decided to turn savor these for the rest of the year. And how best to savor strawberries until next summer than by making Strawberry Jam. I set to work by carefully hulling each strawberry by hand, then measuring the berries.
Next, I mixed them with sugar and lemon juice, set them on a medium heat burner, and gently brought the berries to a boil. After they’ve been brought to a boil, it is important to lower the heat so that the sugary berries do not burn. You also need to be attentive and stir frequently.
In the end, the canning was successful. When I woke this morning, I made a slice of wheat toast and topped it with my freshly made strawberry jam. It definitely wasn’t sweet like store-bought varieties (my recipe uses half the sugar of a normal recipe), but it had a very soft and appealing texture. This jam would be very good mixed with vanilla ice cream or even added into muffin batter. (If you are interested in a standard, sweet jam recipe, check out http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fresh-strawberry-jam-recipe/index.html. You can’t go wrong with Ina Garten.)
So, summer has drawn to a close. Sayonara summer. Hello, fall. Hello, sweaters and soup. Hello, strawberry jam!
Yum!