Summertime is... Simple Strawberry Jam

Red and Ripe Summertime Strawberries

Summertime is all about eating berries! I love all types. I remember a couple outings with my mom and sisters growing up when we went to local farms to pick. We'd spend the morning in the blazing sun and come home ready to make jam. Little did we know, making proper preserves can be a long process. Inevitably we'd get impatient and head outside to the pool for fun, leaving my mom with much of the jam-making process left. Not exactly the summertime activity my mom wanted to do solo!

So, this year, when we put jam-making on our bucket list, the goal was definitely to find a quick and easy recipe, so the kids could experience the fun, but not spend too much time in the details. We decided to go with a recipe from Sure-Jell-- it had few ingredients, and did not involve sterilizing and canning. It was a great choice... within 45 minutes, we had made the jam, and the kids were diving in the pool for fun!

Making Simple Strawberry Jam by B.Nute productions

Here's the recipe: 

Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam (from Sure-Jell)

and the simple steps we followed:

1. The kids removed the stems and diced up the strawberries.

2. With the strawberries in a bowl, they used a potato masher to crush the strawberries.

3. They mixed the sugar with the strawberries, and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.

4. We heated 3/4c water with a Sure-Jell package to a boil.

5. After boiling for 1 minute, we removed the water/jell mixture and stirred it into crushed strawberries and sugar.

6. For "canning", we simple used small reusable containers, and filled them up. 

7. After 24 hours at room temperature, we now have a couple jars in our fridge for use, and the rest in our freezer (for up to a year.) Yum, summertime strawberries all year long!

Strawberry Jam! 

I'd definitely recommend this recipe if you're looking for a little jam making fun this summer- it was simple and didn't take too long, and sure tasted delicious on our toast the next morning!