strawberries part one (jam)
June 4, 2010
When there are strawberries, there ARE strawberries. As with most fruits, if you choose to eat them when they are fresh, you have to eat a lot of them, all at once. This is of course how to make up for not eating them the rest of the year. (It is also a good way to get a stomach ache.) Pick them, eat them, can them, eat them, make pies, and eat some more.
My friend Bob has a huge garden, and the strawberries were ripe for picking last night. We went by, and picked tons! I came home with two turkey-roasting trays full (which is actually half full, as the fruits shouldn’t be layered too deep..). Last night I canned a batch of jam (and started crusts for pies).
Strawberry jam is a simple mixture of sugar, fruit, and lemon juice. I didn’t use much pectin, and the resulting jam was thin, which is perfect for things like pancakes and yogurt.
To thicken the jam a little bit, I boiled it for a while. You don’t want to boil the jam too much though, or you will over cook the fruit. hmmm..
living in the woods and making stuff 
June 4, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Like the pie recipe you used…will have to try it before all the strawberries get put in the freezer.
We too have tons of strawberries…I have been cleaning, eating, freezing, eating, making leathers, eating them all day after marathon picking yesterday.
Still have more in the garden that need picked!