Yesterday I talked a little bit about our Strawberry Adventure ’11 and thought that I’d follow up and share the jam recipe that Roz and I use. It’s a classic strawberry jam recipe that really allows the berries to shine. We usually double the recipe (this year we made two double batches) but if you don’t have a load of berries or don’t want to commit to a ton of jam, the single recipe is perfect for you.

Strawberry Jam
(makes about eight 8-ounce jars)

5 cups crushed hulled strawberries
(about 31/2 lbs or 10 cups of whole strawberries yield 5 cups crushed)
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 box (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin
7 cups granulated sugar, divided

1. Prepare canning jars and lids and bring water bath canner to a boil.

1. In a 8 quart stainless steel stockpot, combine strawberries and lemon juice.

1. In a small bowl, combine pectin and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Gradually stir into fruit.

1. Bring fruit mixture to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the remaining sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil for one minute.

1. Remove pot from hear and skim off any foam. Let jam cool in the pot for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

1. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp paper towel. Center hot lids on jars and screw on bands until fingertip-tight.

1. Place jars in canner, making sure they are covered by at least 1 inch of water. Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Process 4 oz and 8 oz jars for 10 minutes: process 1 pint jars for 15 minutes.

1. Remove jars from canner and place on a wire rack or cloth towel. Let cool for 24 hours, then check seals. Wash and dry jars and store in a cool, dry, dark location.

If you are not familar with the canning process, I recommend looking here or here.

Original recipe from Linda J. Amendt

Yesterday, my sister, nephew and I went strawberry picking. Since we’ve moved back to Columbus, we had to find a new spot. After some research, we decided on going to Mitchell’s Berry Farm in Plain City, Ohio. And I must say, we weren’t disappointed. We spent about 90 minutes picking in one of their fields and we came back with over 20lbs of beautiful, delicious berries.

We came back home and started canning. We decided to make twice the amount of jam as last year, it is the only jam that my nephew will eat, so we divided it into two batches. We put up a total of 32 jelly jars (8 oz) and two pint jars since we ran out of the smaller ones. Plenty of jammy goodness to get us through until next year. (I’m going to share the recipe we used and the process in a future post.)

In addition to the jam, we made some strawberry ice cream, a strawberry smoothie for Luke and daiquiris for my sister and myself to celebrate the fruits of our labor.