Jamming with the Boys

Memorial Day was bright and breezy- perfect for picking strawberries and a great way to keep my 13 and 9 year old boys busy. They agreed and so we ended up at Springdale Farm. As always it turned into a competition - who would pick the largest and who the most squishy and so it turned out to be a fun filled afternoon. It was also fruitful (pun intended) -We picked a good 10 lbs of strawberries.

Back at home I got them busy hulling and cutting the larger ones into quarters. After a good rinse they were thrown into a large heavy bottomed pot to simmer with masses of sugar. Stirring continuously, the strawberries were cooked briefly till the sugar dissolved completely, before adding in liquid Pectin which is essential for the jam to set properly.
Spring is usually the time of year when I fish out my kettle and pickling tools. This task would be twice as hard without the funnel for filling hot jam into the jars and the metal tongs which are coated with rubber for picking up hot jars out of the kettle. This part was tricky as it always is when working with hot liquids, but working as a team, we did a fairly efficient job. The jars were sterilized in boiling water, filled and sealed. I recycled my assortment of glass jars but bought new lids and bands to ensure proper sealing.

Projects around the house are a great way to bond with kids and teach them to work as a team and sometimes along the way, they pick up good skills too. It was a great way to make Memorial Day truly memorable, but the best part was slathering the luscious, gooey jam onto toast and tasting it.