In our family, jam is more than just a sweet topping for your toast. It's a little jar of spring sunshine – preserved for the whole year. It's memory and taste and love.
Jay's Grandma Mary made jars and jars of jam every year – strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry (after her trips to Oregon). You always knew to take a few jars from the freezer when you ran out.
Knowing how my husband loved Grandma's jam, I asked her to teach me and she scoffed – “It's just the Sure-Jell recipe that comes in the box, read it yourself!”
Grandma was straight like that and that's why we loved her.
When she passed away last October, I knew that this would be the year that I got serious about jam. I bought a few boxes of Sure-Jell and waited for the first strawberries.
They appeared last weekend and I got to work.
Washing
Topping
Mashing
Adding the sugar (4 cups)
And pouring.
I'm particularly smitten with the jewel-y pink in the quilted jars – so beautiful!
The jam turned out perfectly, just like Grandma's!
PS. Really, if you want to make it, get a box of Sure-Jell and read it yourself (it's the freezer recipe)!
ruthee
May 27, 2009 at 1:53 pm (15 years ago)Ah! You have inspired me to make some jammy goodness. Homemade jam elevates a PB&J to a whole new level!
Mike
May 27, 2009 at 6:55 pm (15 years ago)I LOVE homemade jam. My mom always makes blackberry jam WITH the seeds – just how I like it.
Get a box of Sure-Jell and read it yourself!
That's exactly what we do ^_^ I love how there is always jam in my parents ice-chest-freezer. I'll steal a few jars every few months.
Naomi Dunford
May 27, 2009 at 7:29 pm (15 years ago)You are too cool for school, sweetness.
Keli
June 19, 2009 at 1:24 am (15 years ago)Do you have to sterilize the jars? How did you do it?
blondechicken
June 19, 2009 at 8:42 am (15 years ago)The directions on the box say to “wash thoroughly”, so I put them through the dishwasher and then plopped them into a big pot of boiling water (with their lids). I removed them, let them cool a bit and poured the jam in!
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blondechicken
June 19, 2009 at 12:42 pm (15 years ago)The directions on the box say to “wash thoroughly”, so I put them through the dishwasher and then plopped them into a big pot of boiling water (with their lids). I removed them, let them cool a bit and poured the jam in!
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