Summer Strawberry Freezer Jam

The Willamette Valley of Oregon is known for it's strawberries and let me tell ya, they have TONS!  We even have a celebration around these parts in honor of the bright, red, delicious wonder.  Over the course of two months, May and June, there is nothing but strawberry stands, painted windows with strawberries and even strawberry shortcake makings in the local grocery stores.  Around this time, yearly, our home seems to find ways to utilize the local ruby treats and this year we found ourselves making a batch of Strawberry Freezer Jam.

A lot of different 'canners' go about making jam in a lot of different ways, but this "freezer jam" way seems to hold true. The funny part about this recipe, it's said to be passed down from grandma to grandma and through the generations in not only Jeff's family, but others as well.

What you'll need:

• 4-6 lbs Ripe Strawberries
• 25-30 clean, washed and dried canning jars with sealing lids
• 3 boxes of fruit pectin 
• 6- 1.5 lb bags of sugar (we used organic sugar)
• 3 cups of hot water
• 2 tbs. Lemon Juice
• A blender or food processor

 First and foremost you need a good harvest of strawberries.  Ones that are a bit over-ripe are the best to work with and seem to give off the most strawberry flavor to the jam.

   

Next you want to remove the stems and wash the berries.  Cutting them up into smaller chucks is optional, but you can leave them whole when you place them into the blender.

I like to use the small end of a melon baller because it wastes less of the "meat" of the strawberry, but other methods can be used.  Such as, a straw?

Once all your stems are removed and any blemishes from the strawberries, combine them into one large bowl and begin adding them to your blender.  You want to blend 3-1/2 cups of strawberries at a time/ per batch.

Once blended they will have the sugar added to them.  You want to combine 4 cups sugar with the crushed berries and stir for about 3-4 minutes to fully combine.  Set aside.

This is a great recipe to combine kids in the kitchen.  Just make sure they don't eat all of your jam before they hit the jars.  :)

While the strawberry/sugar mixture sits and dissolves even more, in a small sauce pan add 1 cup of water and heat on medium/high heat until boiling.  Add the entire box of fruit pectin to the water and stir to dissolve. Once dissolved, boil for another minute and remove from heat.  Immediately add the fruit pectin water to the strawberries/sugar puree and stir for 3 minutes to incorporate the pectin throughout the mixture and help dissolve the sugar granules even more.  At this time you want to add your 2 tbs. of lemon juice and stir to incorporate through the entire mixture.

Pour your puree jam mixture into a measuring cup with a spout and begin filling your clean canning jars, one at a time.

This process is a bit messy so go slow and don't rush with the filling.

Move filled jars back and empties forward to make the process easier so you aren't reaching over already filled jars of jam.

Once all the jars are all filled allow to sit out, uncovered for 8-12 hours.  

We found a label on one of the jar bottoms from 2005 when we made this jam recipe, but made it runny for pancake and muffin syrup.  It was a neat find and made my day because my son was 2 when we made the jam before.  :)

After 12 hours, place on lids and pop into freezer.  This jam keeps for about 1 year in the freezer and up to about 6 months in the refrigerator.  

It goes great on toast, muffins, or even as a PB&J combo.  And it pairs nicely with Greek Yogurt too!

ENJOY!

(Any questions or trouble-shooting please don't hesitate to drop me a line via "CONTACT" option above)

A better way to control PESKY little Ants!

It's summer time and that means BUGS, everywhere!  From horseflies to mosquitoes outside it makes you want to coat your body from head-to-toe in Citronella Oil  and avoid the outside like the plague, but what about when the outside of nature comes into your home?  Sugar ants or "piss ants" as they are called by southerners are a pesky nuisance and seem to sneak into our homes without an open invitation.  They are attracted to the cool of the homes and anything else we seem to have laying around that's sugary or open to their grubby, little tentacles.  

Getting sugar ants is one thing, but keeping them around is quite another and no one wants to have the house guest of a sugar ant for very long.  Here are some steps in helping rid your home of these sneaky intruders.

1.  Get rid of what they're attracted to:  First off, you need to rid your home of what's attracting them.  An obvious solution is putting an air-tight lid on anything with a sugary ingredient.  Ants love sugar and the one thing they love more is an open container full of anything containing sugar.  Next, rid your counter space and floor of anything consumable by the ants, such as crumbs, dog food, or even liquid drips that have managed to hit the floor.  Bleach is a great way to clean up these messes nightly, but if you are against bleach, I suggest using a straight vinegar solution.  Anything to kill their trail to these "goodies" and it will help starve them out of your house.  If the food isn't there, they will move on.

2.  Remove items of concern:  Taking your trash out on a regular basis is a great way to help get rid of ants.  Ants find their way into homes almost daily, when they find something of interest that could be used for the colony, that's when they stick around and stay.  If you give them nothing they will find nothing.  Whatever your trash cycle is, be it once a week or twice a week, up that in order to control.  Take your trash out when it contains any food items, liquid, or anything that "might" be pleasing to a sugar ant.  

3.  Use coffee grounds or caulking to detour:  Ants are coming into your home via an entrance of some sort.  Follow the trail and find out where they are getting in.  If it's an open area where guests can see and it would be an eye-sore to set out a dish of coffee grounds, use caulk and caulk that little opening up.  If not, then set out of small dish of coffee grounds or even a piece of cloth soaked in coffee.  Sugar ants are not attracted to coffee because of the taste and the smell.

4.  Use Borax for heavier ant issues:  If your sugar ants are all over, Borax your home for the weekend.  An eco-friendly alternative to some of the more harsh chemicals on the market.  Placing tsp. piles of Borax throughout your home and along ant trails will greatly help control your sugar ant issue.  But, if the Borax/weekend treatment isn't cutting it, try a more aggressive approach and use a treatment such as Terro® Liquid Bait.  It's a chemical that is harmful to pets and children so please use with caution.  

5.  Keeping the ants away:  Once your ant issue is controlled, keeping it that way is a must.  Pick up and wash dirty dishes, sweep and mop your kitchen/bathroom daily when needed, and always, always clean up sticky spills and messes immediately.

Enjoying the summer shouldn't involve dealing with an ant invasion in your home.  I hope these tips help you out and help rid your home of sugar ants once and for all.  If all else fails, buy an ant farm and train them.  Ha!  :)

    

Our Garden Currently: A Little Growth

Our garden has been showing signs of our hard work over the past few weeks.  From the cherry tomatoes popping up through the dirt to the watermelon and pumpkins making an appearance slowly.  We are so happy our raised beds are working in our favor this year and we have decided that this is the only way to garden in a yard-garden.  

  

My birdbath has been the popular washing "hole" for the many blue jays that like to hand around my yard here recently.  One of the blue jays I have named Milo.  He seems to be friendlier than the others and comes and goes from the birdbath when I am standing close and even has landed on the clothes line when I am hanging clothes.  I've sort of taken a liking to him.  :)

My little Bean planting some beans.

Pumpkins, Broccoli, and Watermelons are showing signs of growth.

Radishes, Lettuce, and Yellow Squash coming along nicely.

We've got Russet Potatoes in the far bed and Snow Peas and Pole Beans in the other.

This is a mirrored image of our garden beds, but how neat is this layout?

Carrots are looking lovely in their beds too.

Irregular Gourds, Birdhouse Gourds, and Cherry Tomatoes in June.

  
Miniature Apple Tree.

Red Cannas

Firework Bush

My "ever spreading" Oxalas

The growth of the Birdhouse Gourds from June 15th-July 3rd.  These will be a lot of fun to play around with once they are fully grown.

June 15th-July 3rd growth on the cherry tomatoes.

The growth of the small, irregular gourds from June 15th-July 3rd.  I grew these by just breaking open the other ones I had and shoving them in a pail of dirt.  I really didn't think they would grow, but that always seems to be when stuff grows: When you aren't expecting it.