Good morning! Did you have a nice weekend? Mine was perfect, I did exactly what I said I was going to do, stay in my pj’s, bake and read.
Saturday was a lazy day, but Sunday I woke up and went like the energizer bunny for the rest of the day. I baked so many things my family said that when I leave next week they are going to have to have a detox from all of the sugar they have consumed these last few weeks.
On Friday I mentioned that I was going to try out a recipe from The Joy of Nesting this weekend for biscuits, so on Saturday afternoon I whipped up a batch of strawberry jam to accompany them. This jam is so easy and scrumptious, I do not know why you would ever buy jam again.
Fresh Strawberry Jam
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten Food Network
11/4 cups of sugar
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
11/2 quarts of cleaned, hulled and halved strawberries
Place a small plate in the freezer. Then in a medium saucepan combine the lemon juice, zest and the sugar, cook over very low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir often so the sugar does not burn. Then add the strawberries and cook until the strawberries release their juices and the mixture boils slowly. This can take as little as 20 minutes or as long as 50 minutes. To test to see if the mixture is done take the plate from the freezer, place a small amount of the jelly on plate, wait a few minutes and see if it gels. If it does, the jelly is ready.
Place the jelly into sterilized canning jars, seal or refrigerate immediately. The mixture will keep for two weeks. If you are making a larger batch follow the USDA guidelines about sterilizing canning products, information can be found HERE.
NOTE: This is not my recipe, for tips and tricks with this recipe click the link above or here. Also, I have made this several times in the last few months, the recipe above includes extra berries that are not in the original recipe. The actual recipe calls for 11/2 pints, I like to have more fruit in my jam.
The biscuits are light and fluffy and the jelly is sweet, delicious and filled with chunky berries. Add a little pat of butter and you have the perfect Sunday morning breakfast to accompany your morning paper and coffee.
What did you do, make or see this weekend? I would love to hear all about it.
I hope that you have a wonderful day!
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Oh, everyone is experiencing spring, and we are still here in winterblunderland….oh I just want some sun, that's all! Strawberry jam is a good reminder of what COULD come, I hope! Happy Monday my friend, Anita
Any chance of another enchanting local sites blog before you head south?
Yummy! Fresh strawberry jam (and a little butter;) is perfect on a warm biscuit. I can't wait for strawberries to come in season. We are almost there!
We still had snow coming down on the weekend.
My parents tended to make their own jam in the past that would last them through the winter, generally strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry.