Strawberry Jam!

After attending the great class at Billings Forge, i decided to give making jam a go on my own, and properly can and everything.

It went great!  First I hulled and sliced 2 lbs of very ripe strawberries.  Then i threw them in a pot and mashed them a bit over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Then i added about 4 cups of sugar and a few tablespoons of lemon juice.  I also added 3 tablespoons powdered pectin.  I let come to a steady boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.  Once i got a good thickness, it came off the heat, and i filled 2 8 oz and 1 4 oz jars.  I added a few chopped up  mint leaves, stirred and filled another 2 8 oz jars and 1 4 oz jar.  All the jars went into the boiling water to keep them properly preserved.

While it was definitely easy to do, it wasn't the neatest work.  I spent a decent amount of time cleaning up bits of strawberry red from drips and drops as i went.  I also steamed up the whole kitchen with so many pots boiling!

There are so few pictures because the camera on my phone kept steaming up.  This was hot work, but definitely not hard.  I'm glad i did this, and am looking forward to tasting things in a few weeks.