Strawberry Season

One of the perks of living in our village is the abundance of local produce. There is a huge number of berry farms within a 5 min. drive as well as tons of fresh veggies. Due to the super hot June we had, strawberries came early and went fast. Yesterday the girls and I bought some of the last flats of strawberries available. We love our smoothies in the winter, so I wanted to stock up on freezing bags and bags full and thought I'd try making jam. So, I tried two different methods. The first was a Dr. Oetker method which involved cooking the jam and adding the pectin, but instead of boiling the jars in a canner I just flipped the jars with the hot jam instead. This sealed the rings without cooking! It will keep for 3 months in a cupboard and for 6 weeks after it is opened. The second method was a No Cook, Low Sugar Freezer Jam. Just chopped the strawberries, gave them a little mashing, added sugar and package, let sit then into the jars and into the freezer. Good in freezer for a year. We tried some jam and it was good! The better part was how it smelled, like just picked strawberries!

Chopped and Mashed...


Jars awaitin'


Finished product!