This was the first year I took all three children to the fields. It went MUCH BETTER than I anticipated. The baby was happy as long as he was munching on a strawberry, the girls were very helpful and focused pickers, and the rain held off enough while still keeping the skies overcast so no one got a sunburn. It was perfect! -until Bean announced she had to go potty. I looked at our two half-filled boxes of berries, my contented baby and the porta-potties that were two fields away. This would normally send me into a panic, but now that the girls are older, I've started to delegate some motherly jobs to big sister D. I told her to take her sister to the tall grass next to the field and have her squat behind the golf cart. I watched closely as they held hands and stepped over the rows of berry plants. (There may have been some scornful glances cast my way from judgmental others, but I've learned to buffer myself against them. This is a valuable tool for my parenting skills.) The last little peek from behind the golf cart to make eye contact with me was precious. I gave a thumbs up and shortly afterward my two little girls were running back across the strawberry field as happy as could be. Everyone benefits when Mommy learns how to relax.
Now, onto the actual jam recipe.
I've always used the Certo Pectin package recipe for making jam, even though it is appalling. There are 7 Cups of sugar to 4 cups of strawberries. That's it. Sugar, some strawberries and then pectin. It's frightening.
I recently did some internet research and found an interesting alternative recipe here. It uses 3 3/4 Cups of honey, 6 Lbs of strawberries, 1 1/2 apples and some lemon juice. I don;t know about you, but I simply prefer unprocessed sugars, like honey, to processed white sugar. Maybe I've become paranoid after being awash in so much GMO debate, but in my quest for relaxation, peace of mind goes pretty far. Plus, you can't deny that the strawberry to sweetener ratio is much more favorable. You can easily tell the difference in the above photo. The honey jam is on the left and the sugar jam is on the right. Now, here's the real dirt: the sugar jam is easier to make and it sets up quicker. The honey jam tastes different at first, because so much cooked honey is pretty pungent. I was really scared that it would taste awful last night as I was processing everything, but this morning proved it to be quite tasty. It did not set up to be as firm as the pectin jam, but it is still usable. This might not be the ideal beginners recipe or method, but for discerning tastes, I would recommend it.
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