Strawberry Picking and Jam

This was kinda fun. I dragged all 5 kids out to the strawberry farm thanks to some Face book encouragement from Barb and Kelly. And thanks to some blog I read, I thought freezer jam would be easy. So I gave it a try. After $28 worth of berries, I had to do something to use some of them up. Even Buck and Half Buck can't eat that much. I think Mite might have though, if I had let him.


So here is what I did: I washed those berries up and then began hulling them. If they were mushy, they went right into my blender. If they were just right they went into some bowls to eat with pound cake, pancakes, and shortcake (this from a girl who doesn't like normal cake!). And some of those just right went into freezer bags for a rainy day. Although, where I will shove them in the freezer is still a mystery!

They have this freezer jam pectin that comes in a bag (like your onion soup packets or something) that cost less than sure jell and it only uses a cup and a half of sugar (compared to 4 or more cups for the usual kind). So I figured I saved two different ways. I mixed the pectin and sugar, blended strawberries till they reached the 4 cup line and then mixed them all for 3 minutes by hand (all right, by spoon). Then I just put them in whatever leftover Tupperware/butter tubs I had hanging around that still had a lid without a crack in it. Into the freezer they went, except two. One for us and one for a neighbor who is a coupon supplier! It turned out pretty well.

Now if I could only grow tomatoes. I haven't killed my hanging garden yet and it smells kinda spice cabinet-y. I will have to ask Heidi what I do with those herbs.