Thursday night my parents arrived on their 55th anniversary. We got them settled in and enjoyed an evening together. Friday morning mom and I got up early and made 21 jars of strawberry jam. Her recipe doesn't use pectin and its fairly simple. Bring four cups of mashed berries and two cups of sugar to a boil, skimming off the foam. Cook for 5 minutes. Add two more cups of sugar and bring to a boil again. Continue skimming and cook for another 5 minutes. You have to cook the batches of berries in quarts, you cannot double the recipe or the jam won't set. We had two pots going at a time and on the other stove top burners, we processed and canned our jam.
We went out for lunch with dad and the boys after jamming and did a little shopping in the afternoon. Friday evening we enjoyed sandwiches and my sister and nephew came over to visit.
On Saturday, DS12 & G-Ma were suppose to participate in the Firecracker walk. Unfortunately a wind storm on Thursday night fell too many trees, and the race was postponed. We didn't learn of this until arriving Saturday morning for the race. DS12 was disappointed, but we'll head back to K-town next weekend for the rescheduled race. We still spent a great day with G-Ma hanging out in K-town and saw some incredible tree roots.
Sunday we drove down to my brother's house for my niece's graduation party. It was wonderful to see extended family and the weather cooperated beautifully.
Monday the 4th back home, we spent the morning at the parade. Afterward we had lunch out and then came home to digest and cool off. The fireworks at dusk were amazing. I'm always impressed at how our small town pulls off such a huge firework show. It feels like you are watching a non-stop finally. Every year it just keeps getting bigger.
Now I'm trying to get back to the usual, but its slow going. At least tomorrow is Wednesday already. :)
7 comments:
I've never canned anything. Always wanted to try it. What do you do with so many jars of jam?
Sounds like you had a nice holiday weekend. I didn't get to see fireworks this year.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
The canned jam will sure taste good when the snow flies.... or tomorrow, for that matter!! LOL I haven't canned anything in years. Glad you had such a great weekend with family!!
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Sounds like you had a great family weekend. Your berry jam sounds yummy, how long can they normally keep? You're making me itch to make some of my own now! LOL
There is nothing better than homemade jam, I have only been able to make the freezer kind. I will keep your mom's recipe on file, maybe I will be adventurous soon. Glad to hear you had an awesome weekend
We give it away. :) Mom took 10, my siblings took 4, the rest are in storage in my basement.
We processed them in hot water canning baths and once sealed, they should keep for at least a year. To me, the taste is so much better than store bought. Last year I made freezer jam, but I prefer canning because I can store the jars on a basement shelf, saving freezer space.
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