At the risk of having my "Man Card" suspended, I decided to try my hand at making and canning my own strawberry jam. Picked up a Granite Ware water bath canner ($19.98), 1/2 pint jars and related items at Wally World and a 4 lb. clam shell of strawberries that looked really nice at Costco ($6.99). Life got in the way and I wasn't able to get to it right away. A couple days later the strawberries were a bit over-ripe but still looked useable with some trimming. I know as they become more ripe the pectin in them decreases and was concerned they wouldn't set up so I cooked a little longer than the one minute stated in the recipe. Looks like it's setting up ok. Being this was my first time I went with the traditional recipe on the Ball website which was:
5 Cups Strawberries (mashed)
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed)
7 Cups Sugar
6 Tbsp Pectin (used Sure-Jell instead of Ball)
Next time I'll try a variation of this that looked really good which was reducing lemon juice to 1 Tbsp. and adding 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar.
My daughter now wants me to do some raspberries jam but they're a bit pricey right now. However, blueberries are looking pretty good.
To get back in the good graces of the powers that be, and hopefully get any suspension lifted, today I'll try pickling some fresh okra and Kirby cukes for pickles. We'll see how that turns out
. I have some fresh garlic, fresh dill and pickling spice. Tips/ideas for the pickling are welcomed. I really want to do some Half Sours (like Ba-Tampte) but can't find a recipe for them anywhere.
Anyways, here are a couple pics because I know the
.
Steve
5 Cups Strawberries (mashed)
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed)
7 Cups Sugar
6 Tbsp Pectin (used Sure-Jell instead of Ball)
Next time I'll try a variation of this that looked really good which was reducing lemon juice to 1 Tbsp. and adding 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar.
My daughter now wants me to do some raspberries jam but they're a bit pricey right now. However, blueberries are looking pretty good.
To get back in the good graces of the powers that be, and hopefully get any suspension lifted, today I'll try pickling some fresh okra and Kirby cukes for pickles. We'll see how that turns out
Anyways, here are a couple pics because I know the
Steve