Okay, Glamor Canners, its time to” Get your Glam on”. Last month kicked off the beginning of summer berry season. The sight and sweet perfume of these beautiful, juicy-red, heart-shaped berries means its time to get busy savoring and preserving the very essence of summer itself.
Today we will be making and canning strawberry jam. In the weeks ahead we will explore strawberry syrups, glazes, and some lovely recipes using our newly made creations.
Some fun facts about strawberries:
- Strawberries are part of the rose family, no wonder they smell so sweet.
- 8 strawberries provide more vitamin C than an average orange.
- They were once thought to be an aphrodisiac and fed to newlyweds on the morning of their honeymoon. (whoo hoo)
- Strawberries are the only fruit to wear their seeds on the outside.
- Including frozen, Americans eat an average of five pounds of berries every year.
- California produces 8o% of the strawberries in the U.S., about 2 billion per year.
Glamor Canner Strawberry Jam:
7 cups crushed strawberries
7 1/2 TBSP powered pectin
8 1/3 c sugar
Preparing:
Wash and stem berries. In a large 8-10 qt. pot, combine crushed berries and pectin.
Bring to a full rolling boil (a boil that can not be stirred down). Stir in sugar. Return
to a full rolling boil. Boil hard, uncovered, for one minute, stirring constantly. I add 1/2
tsp of butter before adding the sugar to help reduce foam. Remove from heat.
Water-bath canning:
Ladle jam at once into hot, clean, half-pint jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Wipe jar rims;
adjust lids and add rings. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes, starting timer when water comes
to a boil. Makes 7 to 8 1/2 pints of jam to enjoy later.
Until next time, “Keep the glamor going”,
Cindi