Strawberry Jam

What do you do when your friend texts you that she’s just bought 15 pounds of organic strawberries at a local farm stand on an impulse after a trip to Target (darn that Target for impulse buys)?

Pack up your kids, grab a potato masher, and call it a playdate. Us stay-at-home moms know how to party.

But seriously, if you are going to make 15 pounds of strawberries into 36 jars of jam you’ll definitely want to have a friend around. This is not a quick and dirty job. It’s a process. It certainly isn’t difficult to do (we used the no-cook method), but it’s time consuming. Washing jars, washing berries, stemming and cutting, mashing, measuring, timing, stirring, pouring, jarring; it’s certainly much more enjoyable with someone to chat with.

As I mentioned, we used the non cook method. I know absolutely nothing about jam making. But from what I gather the differences are you don’t have to sterilize the jars and there are different “rules” about storing. Let me tell you this though, after a thorough taste testing I can officially say that the no cook method of jamming works just fine for me. If you are into jamming or canning check out this post by my good friend Aoife. I’ll be making this one soon!

This stuff is seriously delicious and has gotten me right out of my chips and salsa for lunch everyday rut. I’m coming up with all kinds of delicious ways to use this stuff.  And aside from the short sugar high I get after eating half a jar, things are going swimmingly at the Zoom house this week. Due to the unseasonably warm winter we had, strawberry season is just about over here in North Carolina. Blueberries are up next and you can bet I’ll be jamming again in a couple weeks!

Strawberry Jam (No Cook Method)
Makes 5 cups 

Mason jars
Strawberries
Sugar
Certo liquid pectin
Lemon juice

Wash jars throughly with soap and water. Dry well. Wash, stem, and quarter strawberries. Mash and crush strawberries until almost completely juiced.

Measure out 2 cups of strawberries and add 4 cups of sugar. Stir until well combined and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix 1 package of pectin and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. When berries and sugar have been sitting for 10 minutes, add pectin and lemon juice stirring for 3 minutes.

Pour into jars and cover tightly with lids. Let jars stand at room temperature until set (this will take 24 hours).

Jam will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and up to one year in the freezer. Defrosting should be done in the refrigerator.