Strawberry Days

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SUMMERTIME FUN: FRESH STRAWBERRY JAM

Nothing feels more like summertime, than fresh, ripe strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. And one of the best things about summers in New England is that the countryside is just full of nature’s bounty! We drive by several PYO (pick your own) fruit & vegetable farms everyday.

So during our first summer in this part of the country, we declared one day “Strawberry Day.” Strawberry Day is a day we circle on the calendar, when we take our baskets to the farm and fill them up with strawberries in the morning, and come home to make freezer jam in the afternoon... And in the later afternoon, we make strawberry shakes with some of our new strawberry jam!

(Incidentally, this idea was inspired by the book Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and it is such an awesome read with kids!) For the month of August, we have also added a Blueberry Day and a Raspberry Day to our calendar!

If you live in a city, like we used to, these kinds of farms may not be as accessible and PYO might just mean going to your nearest Costco and finding the carton of strawberries that looks the most ripe!

But in many places, if you take a little drive you can get to one of these PYO farms. And let me tell you, there is something so fulfilling about plucking berries off the vine they have ripened on! It has become one of our favorite summertime traditions.

Here is the freezer jam recipe we use:

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)

4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

3/4 cup water

1 pkg. SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin

Wash strawberries & remove the stems. Crush strawberries thoroughly. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar until it is dissolved. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

Mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

Fill containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year.

Now don’t cry when you see the amount of sugar! Just make peace with the fact that freezer jam isn’t healthy and go make yourself a strawberry milkshake! It’s the perfect summertime treat!