Strawberry Jam

It is the end of May and I must admit I almost missed strawberry season here in Southeast Tennessee! Whew! Time simply got away from me!

Fresh Tennessee Strawberries!

However, I was able to pick up one of the last flats of our local strawberries. Aren't they just gorgeous!

I love buying local!

Despite the horrific weather we have had this spring, it has been a wonderful growing season. This year's  strawberries are plump, brilliant in color, and extremely sweet! No need for any sugar on these little gems!

Little hands kept sneaking strawberries while Mommy wasn't looking!

I purchased these strawberries for jam, but after tasting how delicious they were, I could hardly bear to devote all of them to preserving. So, I used half of the flat for jam and stashed the other half in the fridge for eating! Strawberries will last 5-10 days in the fridge at 32/F.

My favorite way to preserve fruit is by freezing. This is the most efficient way to lock in all the vitamins and nutrients found only in fresh fruit. However freezing requires a lot of space. And if you are like me, excess freezer space is something you do not have. So, the next best option is canning.

For strawberry jam, you will need the following:

• 5½ cups crushed strawberries (about 3 quart boxes strawberries)
• 1 package powdered pectin
• 8 cups sugar
• 9- 10 half-pint sterilized jars with lids
• Water bath canning equipment
• Time needed: about 1.5 hours (including processing time)

Here are the steps:

Prepare the fruit. Sort and wash fully ripe strawberries; remove stems and caps.

Crush your berries. (I use a food processor but you can also cut the berries into small pieces or crush by hand- depending on what consistency you wish your jam to have.)


To make jam. Measure crushed strawberries into a kettle. Add pectin and stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Add sugar, continue stirring, and heat again to a full bubbling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim.

Jam before boiling point

Fill hot jam immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.

Process in a Boiling Water Canner for 5-8 minutes.

Hot packed jars ready for lids

And when you are done, you have some gorgeous jam to save and to share.

Strawberry tops make yummy bunny treats!

Here are some very important notes about making jam with pectin:

1. Be sure you use a large kettle for boiling your jam. Anything made with added pectin will expand! You will need about 2-3x kettle space to be safe. I made this mistake once. I used a pot that was too small and I accidentally started a kitchen fire on my range when the pectin began to expand and boiled over the rims of the pot. The sugar in the jam caught fire on the eye of the stove and immediately began to flame! Fortunately, I had a fire extinguisher in my kitchen and was able to put it out quickly.


2. NEVER leave jams unattended on the stove top. As soon as the jam hits the right temperature, the pectin will start to expand rapidly! Continual stirring will cause the pectin expand less rapidly.

3. Pay attention to the type of pectin you use. Liquid pectin is typically added last whereas powdered pectin needs to be added in the beginning.

If you have any questions about the recipes on my blog, or just want to learn more about home canning, check out my favorite source for all things food preservation!

Terror from the sky and glimmers of hope

Just over one week ago, a series of over 200 deadly tornados ripped across 300 miles of the American South. My sister is a nurse and was working on the fourth floor of the hospital in Tuscaloosa when the mile wide twister hit. She said she saw it coming out the window as she and the staff frantically worked together to secure their patients. Just moments before the storm hit, my sister made a desperate phone call to my mother saying, "There is a massive tornado headed straight for the hospital. We are looking at a direct hit. Make sure everyone knows I love them....." And the line went dead.

About ten o'clock that evening our cell phones began ringing. The signal was fading in and out and it was hard to hear. Finally, we made out the broken voices on the other end. It was our friends in Ringgold, GA saying they were OK and asked if we were OK too.

Our house had been without power since early that morning. The first tornado to hit our area damaged our end of the city, breaking power poles and shredding lines. So throughout the day and into the night, we were oblivious to what was happening around us.

It was not until the next morning when anyone fully understood the capacity of what had happened. We turned on our battery powered radio and listened to reports of the terror the storms had reaped.

Arial photo of Chattanooga tornado damage
Photo by TEMA

Aftermath of tornado in Ringgold, GA

Photo by Ashley Moore

Aftermath of Tuscaloosa tornado

Photo by Jason Clark

In just over 12 hours,  over 300 people were dead. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama there are still around 400 people missing. In our area, more than 30 people were killed.

One of those 30 people killed in our area was a 12 year old boy from the small rural town of Bridgeport, Alabama. Moved by the massive devastation across our region, a group of high school students from a neighboring community (the community where my husband teaches) made the decision to cancel their class trip and instead donate all the trip money to this young tornado victim's family to help pay for his funeral costs.

You must understand the communities in this part of Tennessee and Alabama are not considered wealthy by any means. And, many of these high school students have never traveled beyond the jurisdiction of their own community. Their destination was Tybee Island, GA and the amount they earned from various year- long school fundraisers was $2,000.00- all of which they unselfishly donated to the 12 year old tornado victim's family.

As soon as word got out about the gift, hoards of monetary donations flooded the school. As of yesterday, nearly $5,000.00 had been given by anonymous donors to help replace the funds these students gave up. In fact, even the city of Savannah, GA found out about the student's generous gift and offered the group an all expense paid trip. Now, in turn, the school is donating the extra $5,000.00 to the American Red Cross as assistance to all the tornado victims across the American South.

Tornado aftermath in Bridgeport, AL
Photo by Stephen Hargis

This story is just one example of the rainbows that can emerge from the darkest of skies. While this one act cannot bring back all the lives that were lost, it does give us remaining feelings of hope. Sometimes, it is those who have the least to give that can offer the most.

After 31 hours without electricity or phone service, I finally heard my sister's voice on the other end of the telephone line. She was exhausted, shaken, but safe. Just as the F5 twister was about to hit the hospital, it turned and ripped through the parking lot instead, leveling a strip mall next door and taking the lives of everyone inside.