I have every intention of doing some "real" pickling and canning this summer. Truly I do. I even have the canning jars to prove it. But I figured I'd start off easy by making freezer jam.
Anyone can make freezer jam, which is why it's also called cheater's jam, and it's a great option for those of us with young children and only, say, 30 minutes on our hands instead of several hours.
Now, for those of you who know "all about" freezer jam, my mom found me this Good Housekeeping recipe which uses waaaay less sugar than traditional freezer jam. Which is pretty darn wonderful, considering that other freezer jam recipes call for more sugar than fruit. Yes, you read that right!
The last (?) of the strawberries.
So here is the freezer jam recipe I used, which calls for only about 1/4 of the sugar of the usual recipe. And, because I tend to be impulsive about starting projects, I used what I had on hand--lime juice--rather than lemon (I figured, it works with margaritas, why not jam)?
Low(er) Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam (Adapted from June 2009 Good Housekeeping)
1 pound of strawberries: when hulled and sliced, should equal 3 cups
2 T fresh lime juice (or lemon juice, if you're more organized)
2 T powdered fruit pectin* like Sure Jell (in the yellow box, the regular kind, baker's aisle)
1/2 tsp (a sliver) of butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
three 1 cup jars with good lids (although GH didn't call for this, you can pour some boiling water over them to clean them a little more, per the old Sure Jell recipe).
Place the strawberries in a large skillet. Add pectin, lime juice, and butter--hold off on the sugar for now. Heat to boiling, then mash with a potato masher or a fork. Boil for one minute.
Now add the sugar; boil for two minutes more, stirring now and then. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Ladle into the jars, leaving one inch of head space. Cool in the fridge for 8 hours. It will last 3 weeks in the fridge, or place in the freezer to thaw and eat later, for up to one year.
*I doubled this recipe so that I could use almost the whole package of Sure Jell. It is just as easy as making one batch and you might as well while you're going to all the trouble laughing all the way to the freezer.
N "helped out" with prepping the strawberries. He actually did put some strawberries into the bowl.
I don't think our jam will stay in the freezer for very long. This particular jar will never make it.
