More Freezer Jam

On Monday, I took the kids to Neal's Berry Farm to pick blackberries and buy some local Texas peaches.  When I walked into the farmer's market, one gentleman remarked,

"My, you sure are brave!" 

I knew he was referring to the four kids I had in tow. 

I replied, "Well, I hope so, either that, or I might be stupid!" 

But you know what?  The kids were fine.  The blackberries were very plentiful, and thanks to my 4 little helpers, we picked 9 pounds in 1/2 hour.  No pics, though, sorry...it was enough to manhandle them in the farmer's market trying to pay for the berries and 10 pounds of peaches.  That's when my pickers turned into little misfits, looking into the coolers, the ice cream bin, the candles for sale, etc.  Geez...  But the lady running the stand was so sweet, and wasn't fazed all all, thank goodness. 

So, what did I do with all that fruit?

Well for starters, I made 6 jars of this (just 2 showed up for the photo shoot ;-)...

Peach Freezer Jam with Lemon

And 6 jars of this...

(I know they look identical, but this one is a bit chunkier peach and lemon, with the addition of crystallized ginger.  David went to Penzey's and got some for me--thanks honey!). 

See?

I also made a few jars of this...

Blackberry Freezer Jam with Lime

Instead of using lemon juice per the pectin box directions, I used lime juice and added lime zest (from 2 small limes).  The combinations is unexpected, but lime really brings out the flavor of the berries.  It works well with blueberries too, and in a cobbler, it's divine. 

Rebecca was my official taster...we both thought the peach jam was REALLY good (not that the blackberry jam wasn't).  I just followed the directions on the CERTO liquid pectin box, (they sell it at Walmart) making sure to use the full amount of sugar per batch.  Last time I made strawberry freezer jam, I tried to use 1/2 the amount of sugar, and the jam didn't set.  Lesson learned!

I used the zest of one medium lemon per batch because I like more lemon flavor than just using lemon juice, and about 2 ounces of crystalized ginger per batch for the peach ginger jam.  The ginger adds a tiny zip...you don't taste it at first, but it creeps up on the back of your tongue, and you'll feel a little warmth going down your throat...just enough to make you think, "Hmm...what is that?" 

The first 2 batches of peach jam, I used a potato masher to crush the peach slices after I'd blanched and shocked the fruit to remove the skins.  The next 2 batches, I chopped the slices up...and there wasn't much difference in texture...the 2nd batch was just a bit chunkier.   So if you want to make your own jam, I'd say mash the fruit because it goes faster than chopping up the peaches. 

After all that jam making, I still had enough fruit to make Light Peach Cobbler and Light Blackberry Trifle with Lime, so check out those posts too.  I hope to have the recipes up by the end of the week. 

I hope you are eating up some summer!  God bless your table tonight!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Since we didn't have enough going on this past weekend already...with Rebeccca's First Communion on Sunday, and 20+ people (mostly family) over for a big party after Mass, the logical thing to do was to go strawberry picking on Saturday and bring back 20 pounds of the MOST lucious, juicy, gorgeous berries I have ever seen.

Right?  Everyone with me?  

The only damper to picking at King's Orchard was the price.  The berries were $3.35 a pound-- and yeah, that's a lot.  However, the quality was superb...the berries were the best I've ever had.  We printed a coupon off their website that was good for $10 off 20 pounds.  Well, the scale said 19 1/2 pounds, and the lady at the counter wouldn't let my hubby use the coupon at first.  It's about a 1/2 mile walk from the stand to the berry patch, and David said something to the tune of, "You're really going to make me walk all the way back to pick 1/2 a pound?"  In the end, they said, "Okay, this time, we'll let it go," but let me assure you, if they hadn't, David would not go back to King's Orchard again, period.  He just doesn't have the patience for people who will argue over 1/2 a pound...he thinks it's bad customer service.

Okay...now that we've gotten that unpleasant business out of the way...let's talk jam.  The strawberries we picked were very ripe, so they wouldn't last but 2, maybe 3 days at the most.  I knew I would slice some up and freeze them for later, but wasn't sure what to do with the rest.  My mother-in-law said, "Well, why don't we made some freezer jam?  It's easy, and we can get it done in no time."  I thought it was a capital idea, so once we got home, we dropped off the kids, and headed back out to Walmart to get plastic freezer jars, liquid pectin, and sugar.

Freezer jam is super easy.  You don't have to slice the strawberries, sterilize any jars, boil them...nothing like that.  All you have to do is mash up the berries, add sugar and pectin, combine well, pour the mixture into clean jars, freeze them, and you're done. 

Start off with 2 cups of clean strawberries.  Remove the green hulls and place in a large measuring cup.  Use a potato masher to smash them up...a few small chunks are fine. 

Don't use a blender or food processor...you'll end up with strawberry puree, and you don't want that.  Small pieces of fruit give the finished jam texture, and I like the homemade look, don't you?

We decided to use 4 cups of strawberries, 4 cups of sugar, and one package of pectin.  The berries were so sweet, it really didn't make sense to use any more sugar, although technically, we should have used 8 cups.  I tasted the mixture with 4 cups of sugar, and it was plenty sweet. 

In another bowl or measuring cup, combine 4 cups of sugar and one package of liquid pectin.  Here's the brand we used...you can use your favorite. 

Combine the pectin/sugar mixture with the crushed strawberries.  Stir very well for about 3-5 minutes, making sure the sugar and pectin are fully dissolved. 

I tried to take pictures of the process...there was a LOT going on in the kitchen at the same time!  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law arrived and were processing their strawberries while we were making jam, David and my father-in-law were eating lunch, and there were 8 kids running around...in and out of the house...it was crazy! 

Here's my mother-in-law Terry ladling the first batch of jam into the jars. 

 In the end, we had 20, 1-cup plastic jars of jelly (and one small container because we ran out of jars).  Oh, and one BIG mess in the kitchen!  Let the jars sit at room temperature for 24 hours, then freeze until solid.

When you want to use your homemade jam, thaw a jar in the fridge overnight and use within 2 weeks of opening. 

Note:  After 24 hours, the jam really hadn't set up like we though it should have.  It wasn't very thick like store-bought jam, but it tasted GREAT--really fruity and fresh.  We probably should have used 2 packages of pectin instead of one for each batch.  I'm going to thaw all the jars tonight and stir in 2-3 more packets of pectin so the jam sets up better.  It's still a great sense of accomplishment to make jam for the first time.  I have to give all the credit to my mother-in-law Terry...she is awesome!  I definitely want to try making freezer jam again.  We have blackberries coming on in the back yard...doesn't homemade blackberry jam sound amazing?

Enjoy the "fruits" of your labor, and God bless your table tonight!