It wasn't on my list of Monday chores, but with strawberries on sale for a rock bottom price yesterday, I decided to give it a go. After all, fresh food doesn't wait to be preserved. I felt sort of like a cheater because no, I didn't put up my own berries, or local berries, or even organic berries. Oh, the horror. I just bought the conventional ones... They were such a bargain at $.92 a pound. Perfect for learning on, don't you think?
The cashier knew what I was up to, for I had lemon juice, fresh canning jar lids, and pounds and pounds of strawberries! "You doing some canning today?" she asked. "Yep." I declared. "Oh, that reminds me of my childhood..." she reminisced. "I use to make myself sick eating so many strawberries from our patch in the backyard."
Aw...I love little exchanges like that in the check out line, don't you?
I tried to follow the recipe from Canning and Preserving to a tee as much is possible with a little one helping. What a silly idea that was!
Still, I think I lucked up. The water boiled. The jars did not crack.
The strawberries boiled down. I poured the mixture into jars without too much mess. I got them back into the pot and boiled them for 10 minutes. I let them rest for five minutes and then I took all the jars out and let them set there on the hoosier to cool. The lids did not bop back up when I pressed down on them and I even took the rings off and lifted the jars by the seals. The jar held tight!! Alleluia! I was very proud of my kitchen work yesterday. It was a total mess, but by the end of the day I went to bed with two fresh loaves of bread baked and several jars of strawberry jam sitting pretty on the countertop.
Throughout the whole day, I just kept thinking of the illustration at the very front of the book of Blueberries for Sal. That's sort of what my day looked like except, of course, without the crazy, gorgeous wood stove.
Yesterday felt so old school summery and I loved it!
Yeah, I'm so happy for you!!!! Sometime, we'll have to get together and go pick blueberries at my parents! Then we can do it together. Looks Great!
Posted by: lissadell | May 25, 2011 at 07:52 AM
Good for you!!!! YUM! And, on a side note, I'm going to look into getting that Kristen Kimball book today....I've just seen it around too many times and noticed you have it on your sidebar. I trust your choices. ; )
Posted by: ladycordelia | May 25, 2011 at 11:03 AM
awesome! homemade bring brings a morning slice of toast to celebratory levels :)
Posted by: Stephinie | May 25, 2011 at 01:54 PM
Oh yes, plleeeeze. I can just hear it: kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk.
Posted by: Nichole | May 25, 2011 at 02:28 PM
Go for it!! It's a great book. Fun read for all of us farmer wannabes. But you know which one I REALLY loved? "This Life Is In Your Hands" by Melissa Coleman. It's a really beautiful read.
Posted by: Nichole | May 25, 2011 at 02:30 PM
Oh, gosh, isn't that the truth!
Posted by: Nichole | May 25, 2011 at 02:31 PM
Your post was a really interesting read, jam making is quite popular here in the UK at the moment, but canning, I don't hear of many people doing that here. It seems like an interesting process and a great way to store things that might not freeze so well or if freezer space is small. We have so many raspberries in our garden in the summer, and trying to cram them into out freezer is hard, so I end up making alot of raspberry jam, or my mother in law likes to make mixed berry jelly. Our strawberries on the other hand, just get eaten right of the bush!
Posted by: mamaUK | May 26, 2011 at 07:04 AM
You could definitely preserve all of that yummy jam and enjoy it for the entire year! So incredible that you all have so many different berries growing around you! Must be heaven in the summer!
Posted by: Nichole | May 31, 2011 at 11:22 PM
I love the book, "Blueberries for sale". I used to read it as a kid and I have to say that your photos do a good job of reflecting that story.
Posted by: Katie | June 02, 2011 at 12:41 PM