Strawberry jam

We love strawberry jam. I usually make my own every few years and store it in the freezer. This last week, I went down to grab another container of jam and found there wasn't any. None. It was practically an emergency. The last time I made jam was in 2012.

Usually we pick our own strawberries, but this year they aren't quite In season anymore.

I settled for farm stand berries and started on the jam process. Of course, my three trusty helpers wanted some fun too! They were very very helpful for about an hour and then, one by one, they wandered away to other pursuits.

This brings back many fond memories of growing up. Picking strawberries for hours upon hours in the blistering sun without food or drink (my mom assures me there were plenty of snacks and it was only a short picking session. I do not recall it this way.) was a tradition most summers. We would then take our 100 lbs of strawberries (or 1, spending on who you ask) and slave over the hot stove for hours and hours (I suspect my contributions were not as lengthy as I recall) to produce gorgeous red jam. Of posse, I want the same for my kids.

Which is why I enlisted their help with my project.

4 hours and close to 25 pounds of sugar later, we now have a full freezer stock of the yummy strawberry jam.