Strawberry jam

This year our strawberry plants really started to produce a good amount of fruit. They are about three years old now and it is good to see the production go up. 

 When they first started to get ripe the boys would eat them all up before they even made it into the house. But after a while their interest started to decrease. This was just fine with me because I have been really wanting to made some of our own jam. 

 I have always been more of a fan of freezer jam. I think it taste a little better and it is a lot easier to make rather then breaking out the pressure cooker to can them, especially with a small batch. I had a are time finding regular pectin....if I am going to make jam its going to be real jam not a reduced/sugar-free kind. Besides with my underweight kids they are better off with the extra kcal's ;)

As I as looking I found this instant pectin. I was intrigued so I picked up one packet for $0.99. According to the directions all you had to do was mash your berries (the second batch I made I use an immersion blender so it smoother), then mix the pectin and sugar together. Pour the mashed berries and sugar mixture together and let it set for thirty minutes and pop it in the frig or freezer and your done! It was really very simple and quick. It only uses 1 2/3 cups of berries but I was able to get these two little jars of freezer jam. It was officially the first batch I made with my own berries and all by myself, it was great!