We're Jammin'

Amid watching General Conference today, I finally learned how to make my mom's delicious strawberry freezer jam. I had been intimidated to attempt it for a long time, as I am no Martha, plus getting the jam for free for so long allowed me to be lazy and still reap the rewards of sweet sugary jam. Alas, it would eventually come to an end.

So here's the jist:

(Disclaimer: This is the recipe off of the pectin we used, it will be different than other pectin recipes out there. This is only a tutorial showing how simple it can be to make jam so please make sure to follow the recipe on your pectin so it turns out correctly!)

I bought strawberries (50 cents a pound at SRM) and used 6 (1lb.) containers. We put them in a sink full of cold water to get the earth off of them and then cut the tops off along with any green spots.

Then into the blender they went. We doubled the recipe so we wanted 4 cups of pureed strawberries each time. Did you know that blenders have cup measurements on them? How convenient. Once blended, we put it into a large bowl like this and used a large spatula like this.Then in went 8 cups of sugar (twice the amount of strawberry) and I realized once again why this stuff is so good. Ok, where'd all the strawberry go? We stirred the sugar in and set the timer for 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes we would stir the mixture occasionally to make sure the sugar was completely dissolved. When the strawberry mixture was just a few minutes from being done we started the pectin mixture on the stove. We brought 1 and 1/2 cups water to a boil on the stove, immediately added 2/3 cup of pectin and then stirred. Allow the mixture to bubble and each time take off the stove and stir, being careful not to let it boil over on you. Do this about 4 times or for approximately 1 minute. Then pour into strawberry mixture and stir well.

Then it's into the jars and they are left out at room temperature for 24 hours before going into the fridge or freezer. We repeated this process about 3-4 times until we had used all 6lbs. of the strawberries. As you will notice some of the jars have what I would call "foaming at the mouth." This is due to air bubbles which are caused by excessive stirring, and ultimately my extremley toned biceps. It's nothing to fret about, because after the 24 hours you can scoop off that layer (and eat it) and wha-la, perfection.Behold, the jam of my labor, all 7 and 1/2 quarts of it. It's a pretty awesome stash if you ask me. This jam is good for a few years in the freezer and about 6 months in the fridge, but don't worry it will be long gone by then.

So, ya wanna pint?

Guess how much it cost to make one quart of jam.

(not including the jar)

The person who is closest gets a pint for free and can finally throw away the Great Value crud they've been slappin' on their sandwiches.

(My apologies to those out of staters' and those who you live so far away that you might as well be out of state, as it is not shipable. Unless of course you will be in my neck of the woods soon, and in that case I will happily hold it for you :)

So let's hear your best guess!