Summer in a jar. Strawberry freezer jam brings so much happiness whatever you pair it with. Yum!
Growing up on a farm meant that we had a fair amount of fresh fruit. We lived next door to my grandparents, on the same farm my mom grew up on. My grandma found joy in planting and growing, so she planted some of the lesser common fruit trees right along side of the more common ones. We had gooseberries, figs, currents, grapes, a variety of apples and cherries, pears, raspberries, marionberries, and an overwhelming amount of blackberries. I’m sure there were plenty of other fruits I’m just not thinking of right now.
Well, this abundance of fruit also meant an abundance of preserving, mostly by means of canning. The canning itself was a bit of work, especially for my mother who did the bulk of the work for our family, all while managing her 4 daughters who were trying to “help.” Somehow, it all got done, and having cherry pie or fresh applesauce in the middle of winter made all our lives that much better.
Now that the farm I loved has been turned into a local high school, and I no longer live at home, I still feel the need to pull out my canner every summer. Home canned peaches or pears will always win out over grocery store canned fruits for me.
Despite my time in the kitchen every summer, I realized this past year that I had never made strawberry freezer jam. I have jars and jars of raspberry, blackberry, and apricot jams that I've made. I’ve even had a jar or two of cherry jam, but I’ve never made strawberry freezer jam. So I finally changed that this past week. It’s probably the easiest jam recipe I’ve ever made. And yet, it is so, so good.
*Recipe from MCP pectin
3-1/4 cups prepared fruit (about 2 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 box MCP Pectin
4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
Crush strawberries thoroughly. (I threw my berries in my food processor an blitzed them.) Measure 3-1/4 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Add lemon juice; mix well.
Stir pectin into prepared fruit in bowl. Let stand 30 min., stirring every 5 min. Gradually add sugar, stirring after each addition until well blended. Stir additional 3 min. or until most of the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator before using.
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