I don't want you to think by the title that I'm going to tell you how to make amazing strawberry jam, cuz I'm not!I am, however, going to tell you a few things I learned along the way and share a link to some really cute labels for your jam jars.
A little secret here: this was my first time making jam or canning anything! It was really kind of fun except that I way underestimated what I would need!
We started about by going to a local strawberry farm and picking the berries ourselves!
A little tidbit about this last little guy. He was very excited initially to go along but after five minutes and five berries he was done! Shortly after we got home he felt warm and then threw up......yep has the flu that one and I dragged him into a muggy hot field.....not one of my finer mom moments! Oh well!
On with the jam making! I followed a simple recipe from allrecipes.com but started by mixing my berries in the blender {I'm not a chunky kind of girl}.
Here's a few things I learned along the way:
- I'm allergic to strawberry plants. Everywhere a plant touch my arms got super itchy, like burny itchy, and all red. No fun!
- You need a lot more sugar than you think you will. Yep, ran out after the first batch.
- You need a lot more jars than you think you will. Yep, ran out after two batches.
- You need a lot more pectin than you think you will. {Thank you Amy for keeping extra on hand in case your crazy neighbor thinks she knows what she's doing but doesn't!}
In spite of all of the problems, I am proud of the results and will probably make more next year. {Except that I will just buy them already picked.....so itchy!}
To embellish my jars I found these really cute labels at Limeshot Design
Let's hope your jam making adventures are much more serene than mine!
Posting Komentar