Every year, since I can remember my brother and I would go strawberry picking with my parents at Whittamore’s Farm in Markham, this was truly the start of summer. My picking methods of one strawberry in the bucket and one in my mouth made for a longer but enjoyable picking time…heehee…just kidding…sort of…
The tradition of yearly strawberry picking has continued with Yancy, and this year I decided to make jam…now, I think [and Yancy can vouch for me, but I’m sure he’s biased] I’m a pretty decent cook, I love food, and making it is something we really enjoy…but I’ve never attempted canning or jarring…so this was a challenge and test if you will…
I found some recipes and headed to the kitchen…the concoction tasted yummy…a little sweet from the berries and a touch of sugar, and a bit tart from the lemon….perfect…into jars and into the pot to seal…all the while I’m thinking this is a bit runny…maybe it’ll set??? Well my ‘jam’ turned out to be a delicious compote, perfect for ice cream or pancakes…reason: I did not add pectin, and since strawberries are fruit which do not contain pectin [apples and plums do] my ‘jam’ stayed a bit liquidy…5 jars of delicious ‘sort of strawberry jam’…lesson learned! But my sort of jam is sure not going to waste…what’s better than summer in a jar.
