Strawberry Jam
We have been making jam for years. In past year, the jams have accumulated in the closet and we have given them out as gifts. For some reason, we have begun to consume them ourselves at a furious rate. We ran out of strawberry jam. Oh no! This is generally something we make at the beach but since baseball season has kept us in the city, I felt compelled to make jam at home.
In between the double header we went to on Saturday, I shot over to the Greenmarket in our neighborhood on Hudson and Bethune. I picked up strawberries and some other goodies. They told me that this weekend is the last for strawberries. The heat has killed them.
This year I made the jam a bit differently than years past. I made it the old fashioned way. I took 6 cups of berries, a squeeze of lemon juice and boiled this. Then I added 3 cups of sugar and boiled this, stirring and using a potato masher for the berries, until the sugar was completely melted. Then I set the stove to a medium/low heat and let this hang out until the candy thermometer read 224. That is the key for jam to gel. It took a while.
Then I filled the jars, sat them covered in boiling water to seal the jars and was done. I only made 11 bottles. I might have to walk Union Square Market this week and hope that there are still some strawberries available. 11 jars won't last long.
Comments (Archived):
Nice! We also do the same thing… we hit the farm and pick the berries ourselves and rush home to make the freshest strawberry, raspberry and blueberry jams imaginable! They are a hit with family and friends… and no matter how many jars we make, it is never enough!
In the fall I like to make a tomato ginger chutney which goes well with sandwiches and burgers. This too is a winner!