We started the day going for bloodwork. After that we sprung on Mckenzie that we were going to pick strawberries. I had bowls and bags. I never did this so I was unsure what we would need. We got a ride to the field in a trailer being pulled by a big tractor. Mckenzie was loving this.
It was going to be a hot day so I knew we wouldn't be there long. We picked the strawberries, first putting them in the bowls then pouring them in plastic bags. Mistake # 1. Then we continued to pick more. Ok, now it is getting hot. I am done. Mckenzie continued picking until our ride arrived to return to the parking lot. We paid for our berries and off we went. The berries in the bowls were beautiful. We ate quite a few on the way home.
We decided to make jam. This I have never done. It can't be that hard. First cut the tops off the berries. Can I please have a bag of berries? When I poured them from the bag I was shocked to see what they looked like. It was a bag of wilted berries that someone squished. It was gross but I need them for jam.
I followed the directions on the box of pectin. It was cooked to boiling, then put in jars and sealed. Mckenzie checked on it every 5 minutes. It is still like syrup and shows no signs of thickening. Plan 2. Recook. Clean jars. Put in jars and reseal. We left them overnight with hopes that it would thicken. We checked them the second our feet hit the floor. UGH! Still looks like syrup. Plan 3. Recook and add more pectin. Now I have 3 packs and 1 box of pectin added to the sugar and berries. After resealing the jars, we waited. After about 4 hours we saw some signs that it was thickening. I think I finally did it. We are proud of our jam. Will I do this again? Maybe, but only if I have 4 boxes of pectin!
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