In the canner, Strawberry Jam

Strawberry season always seems so short to me. God forbid you have a hectic few weeks in June, because it severely limits your ability to acquire strawberries to be able to make jam. In past years, I've hit a local farmer's market and was able to score some "jam" berries for about a third of the price of the regular quarts. These berries are super ripe, slightly less than perfect and great for making jam. This year, I offered to help a friend learn how to make strawberry jam and we decided to "farm to table" on this one and pick our own strawberries.

We headed out east of Cleveland to Patterson's Fruit Farm and hit the strawberry patch. Word of advice -- go early. We were able to pick a nice bounty of berries, but even getting there a little before 10 a.m., things were already a little picked over.

The recipe for strawberry jam that I've used the last couple of years also requires a little organization, time-wise. Plan accordingly.

Basic recipe for a small batch:

4 cups halved or quartered strawberries
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix berries and sugar and let stand for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Place berry mixture in a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add lemon juice, return to a boil and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 24 hours.

Bring berries to a full boil over high heat and boil rapidly for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes.

Makes 2-1/2 cups.

(NOTE: I usually make a bigger patch, using 4 quarts of berries which gives me roughly 12 cups of berries and will yield about a dozen 8 oz. jelly jars, give or take).