Thursday, August 2, 2012

Jamin' with my Aunt Jo

Strawberry Jam Time
What's summer without strawberries? Luckily even with the drought we're still able to enjoy them. I wanted to put some of the strawberries that I cut up and froze back in June to good use. You can read more about that time consuming project here. So I did the most resourceful thing and called my Great Aunt Jo, the strawberry jam expert and now teacher! Last Saturday she passed down the jam-making techniques to the next generation. We had so much fun and much to my surprise making jam isn't really that hard. The biggest take away: EVERYTHING measurements and timing must be EXACT.   
Mash 2 cups of strawberries, add to that 4 cups of sugar. Stir for 3 minutes.
We make quite a team...And there wasn't any crying or fighting! The strawberries and sugar has to sit and merry for 10 minutes. 3 minutes before the 10 minutes is up boil 3/4 cup of water with 1 packet of Sure Jel (this is what Aunt Jo, on right, is doing), mixture must boil for EXACTLY 1 minute. Remove from heat and slowly pour and stir (Yes at the same time, that's why jam making is a team effort) into strawberry/sugar combo. Stir for 3 minutes, then pour into sanitized jam jars. (what I'm doing on the left).  

Sure Jell is the key ingredient. This is what the box looks like in case you're a jam-rookie like me.
TaDa! So pretty! And I think they'll taste even better come February after a cold day of feeding cows.
 What family tradition has been passed down to you?

2 comments:

Holli said...

What an awesome experience with your Aunt! It looks yummy!

Nicole Starr said...

And it's soo good!! My mom made bread in her bread machine this weekend... oh so yummy!

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