Strawberry Jam
It’s that time of year again…time to make strawberry jam. On a whim, I stopped by Carpinito’s in Kent just to look around and found this beautiful flat of strawberries. So I bought it…..
and that sent me into full strawberry jam making mode; fresh berries can’t sit around for very long. I made two batches of jam out of this flat and had two quart size bags of berries left over that I put in the freezer. “So is making homemade jam frugal?”, you might ask. I made 6 pint jars and 8-8oz jars of jam. At Safeway, Smucker’s strawberry jam priced out at $3.79 for the pint size and $3.19 for the 8oz size for a total of $48.26. I paid $21.95 for the berries, and $16.95 for the supplies – sugar, two boxes of SureJell pectin and two boxes of lids for a grand total of $38.90. That’s a savings of almost $10 – but – I already had all the jars. If you had to go out and buy the jars (which you can find at garage sales quite often) then you may come out a little behind. But whether I save money or not, it is something my mother taught me and I love doing it….it makes me feel homey.
And the chickens benefited too….
although they were acting a little skittish. You don’t think this had anything to do with it, do you?
This is what happens when you have two bored boys, an old dead riding lawn mower and a red wagon. (Although I was quite proud of them for getting that old hunk of junk going, and yes, they removed the mower blade). By the way, I never knew a riding lawn mower could do wheelies. Did you?
Anywho, if you would like to try making your own jam (it’s super easy and SO much better than store-bought), just follow the directions in the SureJell package – that’s all I do. And when you see the sugar to berry ratio in the recipe, don’t try to cut back on the sugar, your jam will not set. Just remember that jam is a condiment, a confection really, and that you are only eating a small amount at a time, not a whole jar.
Posted by Shelley .