Homemade strawberry jam

Yesterday morning we drove to a farm just outside Montreal to pick fresh strawberries. Making strawberry jam once a year is part of my beginning-of-summer routine. If you’ve never tasted fresh jam before, there’s nothing like it. And if you’ve never made jam before, I have a few pictures to inspire you to try 🙂

	Head off to your nearest U-pick strawberry farm.(Or you can buy your berries at the grocery store or farmer’s market.)
	Pick at least 4 quarts (4 litres) to make two batches of jam.We picked one basket for jam, and a second basket for eating.
	Try not to get carried away!
	There are always more berries hiding… you can’t take them all home.
	Jam is really easy, you just need a big pot, some Certo (pectin), and some sugar. Add rhubarb if you’d like to make a tangy strawberry-rhubarb jam.
	Get your glass jars out of storage (or buy a new box).I like these 2-cup jars, not too big, not too small.
	Wash the jars and the lids in hot soapy water.
	After you’ve washed your jars, put about 1″ of water in each, put on a tray, and stick in a warm oven to sterilize while you prepare the berries.
	Rinse berries, remove the green stems, and put a few in a big bowl.Crush in small batches with a potato masher, or a pastry blender.
	Measure out the crushed berries. My recipe needed 4.5 cups of squished berries.
	Make sure your pot is big enough for the jam to double in size while it is boiling. It’s like a scene from a movie!
	When the jam is cooling, skim the foam off the top with a metal spoon.
	If you have a funnel, it makes getting the jam into the jars just a little bit easier.
	After you’ve put the lids on, turn the jars upside-down for 15 minutes (set your timer). This prevents the fruit from quickly settling to the bottom of the jar.
	Now that you’re finished, you just need to decide who you’re going to give them to as gifts…

The recipe I use for strawberry jam and for strawberry-rhubarb jam is from the inside of the Certo (pectin) package. I’ll tell you one thing about making homemade jam, once you get started, it’s hard to stop! There are recipes for blueberry jam, crabapple jelly, and orange marmalade…

If you have any jammy questions, just send me a note. You can always reach me at Shelley@OneRoastChicken.com.

All best wishes, and bon appetit!

Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu, Owner & Head Chef
www.oneroastchicken.com

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