Once upon a time....errrr.....20 plus years ago, I made jelly in 4H. Green Apple Mint Jelly. It was not incredibly difficult, but I didn't love the product. In fact, I think my Mom had that jelly on the shelves for years afterward. Ew.
The last few years, whenever I am in a nicer grocery, I find myself looking to see if they have strawberry-rhubarb jam. They never do. For some reason I love this combination of tart and sweet. Recently I heard from a friend that making freezer jam was very simple, so I decided to try it out. The product was DELICIOUS! And, it proved to be a pretty fun mother-daughter activity too.
Here are the raw ingredients for the yummiest strawberry-rhubarb jam you've ever had!
Add one, cute, masher.
Melt a TON of sugar and sure-jell together per instructions in package. Add water. Stir constantly until melted and bubbling.
Add mashed fruit, stir. (I also steamed the rhubarb for few minutes before adding to the berries)What you need
Make It
RINSE clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
STEM and crush strawberries thoroughly, one cup at a time. Move crushed strawberries into large bowl. Cut rhubarb into 2-inch pieces. Steam. Add to crushed strawberries and roughly mash. Potato mashers work great for this.
MIX pectin and sugar in large saucepan. Add water. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 min. Add fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (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 freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.
That looks absolutely delicious! What a fun summer activity! And the FRUITS of your hour of labor will last a long time -- yum! I printed it out and added it to my summer activity file! What brand are those plastic containers? I haven't seen plastic with screw-on lids....
ReplyDeleteYUM! I haven't made freezer jam in years! I need to pick some berries and do that again.
ReplyDeleteP.S. (What happened to our LITTLE Savannah? She is starting to look like a beehive already!)
Sara - they are Ziploc Twist n' Lock brand. I've had them in my pantry for the better part of a year. ANY plastic containers will work though.
ReplyDeleteSo yummy and super fast to make. Six yrs ago I planted 7 strawberry plants and last yr they produced 19 cups of berries and two dozen bottles of jam. I managed to clean Falls dead leaves off the plants a few weekends ago and now have a ton of flowers currently on my plants. It's gonna be a busy summer making jam!! My kiddo's LOVE going out to pick bags of strawberries each morning. One benefit of Sandys sandy soil...strawberries love it!!! And I've thinned them out every Fall and give away the ones we pull out. The 7 plants have spread to over 100 I'm sure. My plants bloom twice a yr. Boo yah!! A fun tradition. Glad you tried it!! Super easy.
ReplyDeleteYummy, my freezer jam is always so runny. We usually end up eating it like syrup.
ReplyDeleteI use the Ball brand pectin for freezer jam and it doesn't require any cooking at all. (And you only have to wait 30 minutes for it to set.) You just mix the dry pectin and the sugar together and then mix in the fruit and stir it for three minutes. It's so easy. I really love freezer jam. It's way better than the cooked stuff. I also like to put it on top of vanilla ice cream or as a cake topping.
ReplyDeleteOh, and most of the modern canning jars are freezer safe. I've started just buying the canning jars and using those to freeze my jam in. Since I just close the jars and don't "seal" them in the canning sense, I can just keep reusing the same lids.
ReplyDelete