Sopping the Jam!

(Thanks to the wonderful tech support staff at WordPress I am up and going again.  Gotta love IT!  This post was originally intended for last Saturday morning.)

Let’s Jam! No really, let’s make some jam! As I sat last night surfing YouTube for music, jamming out myself – I know, an exciting Friday night for a 20-something – I couldn’t help but think about the sopping I would be doing this morning. There was a fresh Ball jar of Strawberry Jam I made Wednesday waiting on me.

I would love to say I made homemade biscuits this morning, but I turned to Mary B’s for some delicious biscuits to accompany my jamming. Sidenote: if you’ve never had Mary B’s biscuits, you should. They are in the freezer section, and always taste like a piping hot made-from-scratch biscuit. Amazing stuff, they are! On to the Jam!

From the strawberries Mom and I picked on Wednesday morning, I made Strawberry Jam, and put freezer baggies of sliced strawberries, with some sugar on them, in the freezer for a later-on treat. Never know when a hot milk cake will be made and ready to eat – yes, Maw-Maw, I know you read these, this is a direct hint to you, love you. *smiles, nudge-nudge, wink-wink*

The Strawberry Jam I made was a delightful freezer jam recipe of my Mom’s…….or at least I thought. My discovery went like this…Wednesday morning, Mom and I picked strawberries. Upon returning home, I searched high and low for my hand-written recipe for this spectacular gem of a jam to no avail. Wednesday lunch, I picked Maw-Maw up to go to our regularly scheduled Wednesday chow down. We got to the restaurant, and I texted Mom for the recipe. Mom called while we were eating, and I asked her if she had the recipe she could email me. This way I could go to the grocery store and obtain my ingredients while I was out with Maw-Maw. Lo and behold, my Mom utters these next words out of her mouth “It’s just the recipe off the back of the Sure-Jell box.” Seriously, Mom??? You have had me fooled all these years. The once handwritten copy of the recipe could always have been found on the back of the Sure-Jell box??? This beautiful gem of a jam wasn’t a special recipe afterall??? *SIGH* You can ask Maw-Maw, I was quite perplexed, not mad by any means – in fact, I found it quite humorous. I felt I had been bamboozled. Totally bamboozled by my own mother. Maw-Maw and I talked it over, and she said “Maybe she wanted u to think it was something special.” Mom – directly to you this time – everything you make is special to me, and I wouldn’t trade this particular bamboozling for anything.

So, after gathering my thoughts and later that afternoon, off to the store I went. Below is the recipe I found on the back of the box/on the pamphlet inside the box. This was super simple, super delicious, and super sweet. You surely should make this, and always eat on top of a fresh, buttered, Southern biscuit. Whether it’s homemade or Mary B’s, you can’t go wrong with this combination.

Or, you could dip shortbread cookies in it…bake muffins with a dollop in the middle of the batter…have PB and Jam sandwiches…eat it on buttered toast…on pound cake…spread some on croissant roll dough and bake…or…………….(the list goes on and on depending on how far your imagination can take you).

Sure-Jell Strawberry Freezer Jam

• 2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
• 4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
• 3/4 cupwater
• 1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin

Directions

RINSE 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. Stem and crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

MIX water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until sugar is almost dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

FILL all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

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