One of my favorite things about summer is fresh summer fruit. I didn't really experience this a lot in Texas as it is a bit too hot and we didnt live in a region with a lot of fresh fruit (at least growing in a place you could easily pick!) However! One of my great loves of Michigan Summers (and Falls) is the bounty of delicious fruit. This year John and I went strawberry picking, which was a first for me. Fresh strawberries to me can only be described as nature's candy. We spent the day of and after picking enjoying an abundance of berries, as well as canning some up into yummy jam to be savored all year long. Here are a few of the highlights of our canning process. Canning may have been a theme for this summer... I just finished doing salsa and also did Rasberries and Blackberries. Peaches are up next :)
1. Start with great, yummy fresh fruit. This stuff spoils fast when you pick it yourself, so use it really fresh.
2. We washed and hulled the strawberries, and began mixing with sugar. Yeah-- this is some sweet stuff.
3. We used pint sized jars... these babies have to be washed and sanitized before using for canning.
4. The steps of acrually preparing the jam aren't here as they didn't get documented as it was hurried. However, the recipe we used can be found
here. Here we are putting the jam in the jars.
5. And now to boil thse babies to seal them up. This was done only for a short period so this jam is not very cooked-- tastes just like fresh berries!
Voila! Yummy jam.
What are you doing to capture the magic of summer?
