Jamming

My son was born in February 2013 and by the time June came around I was knee deep in home projects. One of the things I kept thinking about was making strawberry jam.

We lived in an apartment at that time and by the back entrance were two bookshelves for people to leave and take books. I was glancing through one day and came across this book:

It just goes to show how God takes care of us and encourages us in good things.

I grabbed the book and saw it had extensive instructions on the canning process and (among others) a recipe for old fashion strawberry jam.

I bought a canning kit, local organic strawberries and got to work.

That summer I made nectarine preserves, grape jelly, and lots of strawberry jam. It was lots of fun and it was all delightful.

Although I have 10 or so strawberry plants, they were just planted early in May and will not produce nearly enough strawberries for me to make into jam. Last week I managed to get lots of strawberries at the store for a good price so I was finally able to do some canning.

I had enough for jam (4cups) and for my son to feast on some.

I don't have a round cake rack so I use lids to keep my jars off the bottom of my pot.

Boiling the strawberries to make them 'jam'.

The finished product!

If you happen to see that book somewhere I definitely recommend it! This year I'm hoping to make raspberry jam, zucchini relish, and can whole tomatoes.

I saw this quote that said 'chop your own wood and it will warm you twice'. I know that's true from experience because we kept a fire going in our stove downstairs through the winter. I think it applies neatly here too.
Things like canning, making your own bread, making your own pasta give you a satisfaction you can't get any other way. It goes beyond knowing what is actually in your food. The taste is different, brighter, and better.
Give it a try, if you have the chance. It's a lot of fun and very rewarding.