Strawberry Jam Recipes

I usually count on the recipe sheet inside the little box of pectin when it comes to making our favorite jams. This year, however, they have a new little bottle of pectin that you buy instead of the boxes. No more little recipe sheet! I'm typing in my favorite recipes here so I'll be able to find them next year! (Both recipes are from Ball pectin.)

Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 1-lb containers)
1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 2 medium lemons) (We used the zester for smaller pieces)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
6 cups sugar
Hull and crush berries one layer at a time using a potato masher. Combine lemon peel and water to cover. Simmer 5 minutes. Drain and discard liquid. Add peel to prepared strawberries. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 7 (8 oz) half pints

Triple Berry Jam
2 1/2 cups crushed strawberries (about 2 1-lb containers)
1 1/2 cups crushed raspberries (about 3 6-oz containers) (I pulled from the freezer)
1 cup crushed blueberries
7 cups sugar
Hull strawberries and stem blueberries. Crush berries one layer at a time using potato masher. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 8 (8 oz) half pints

Strawberries

The strawberries came late and quickly this year, only lasting about 2 1/2 weeks. When I went looking for them this Saturday, there weren't any at the Farmer's Market. Ugh! DH and I headed north a bit to the orchards and got lucky. I got a flat of big, beautiful strawberries for $20.

Once home, PinkOne and I made several batches of jam and I froze a few containers. I tried something new this year for the frozen berries--sliced and a little bit of sugar. Once the juice started to flow a little bit, I packaged them up in the ZipLock little bowls (1 3/4 cup size) and popped them in the freezer. We'll see how we like them that way.

One flat of strawberries equals:

• 5 bowls of frozen berries & sugar


• 1 batch (3 1/2 pints) Strawberry Lemon Marmalade (by PinkOne)


• 2 batches (8 1/2 pints) Triple Berry

Not bad for the weekend!