Freezer Jam

It was so nice to get home this weekend after a long week in the Twin Cities.  It was hard to be away from Al, the girls, even the garden.

I had planned to do some strawberry picking at Finke's berry farm this summer, and then make freezer jam like Al's mom always does-  it's so yummy.  Unfortunately, Finke's season wasn't very (berry?) productive.  I called there numerous times and either they were picked out, or berries weren't ripening.  Bummer.

Anyway, I had purchased 4 packages of Sure-Jell and wanted to use them.  So I stopped by the grocery store in Sandstone (they had a sale on strawberries!) and bought some berries.  This was an experience in itself. First of all, I was disappointed to be buying strawberries from California, and secondly, many of them were moldy, so I had to hunt around for berries that were even worth the $1.38 sale price.  I finally found some to bring home for our jam.

The girls and I made our jam on Saturday morning- it was a fun little activity to work on together.  We ended up making 6 2-cup portions and froze them for future use.  I was surprised at the sugar to berry ratio while making the jam:  4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of berries- oh boy!  Next time I will buy the lower-sugar pectin. 

My next batch of jam will hopefully come from blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries that have been picked from Minnesota, not California berries that are moldy because they've been shipped hundreds of miles.

But I know our sugary jam will still taste good on some good, thick toast this winter.  And,  it's always good to be at home in our little kitchen making something new-together.