Homemade Strawberry Jam

I bought some strawberries last week when they were on sale at Macey's and made Jam. I love homemade Strawberry Jam. I remember growing up, my mom always made homemade jam. I don't think I had store bought jam until I was older. As this is the beginning on sales on strawberries, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to make more jam soon! It is so easy to make, and so, so, yummy. The recipe for jam is inside the package of pectin. You can find pectin in the canning section of the grocery store. I prefer to make strawberry freezer jam because I like the taste and texture better than cooked jam, but the recipe for both types of jam is in the package. Cut off the stems and wash the strawberries. Mash the strawberries in a bowl. A potato masher (and kids) work great for this. You will want to leave small bits of fruit in the jam, so you do not want to puree the fruit. Measure out the exact amount of fruit and put it into a bowl, you can see I almost have two cups here, which is what the recipe called for. After the fruit is mashed, you will add the sugar & lemon juice (if the recipe calls for it) and let it sit for 10 minutes. It's very important in any type of food preservation that you follow the recipe exactly and it is written and it is even more important to make sure the recipe is from a reliable source (i.e. USU extension of Ball canning book).

Cook the pectin on the stove, as per the instructions in the pectin say to do.

Pour the pectin into the strawberry mixture, and stir for 3 minutes.

Pour the jam into freezer jars. Let them sit out for 24 hours, and then put them in the freezer.