Yummy Jam

Maybe it's a weird pregnancy thing, but this year I really got into making jams. I've never done it before, but I found out it's really pretty easy. I was able to make one batch of strawberry from our garden before they were done. Next year I'll be sure to start earlier! Then raspberries started. I had to buy those since our plants aren't very happy. I made several batches of raspberry. Then we were able to buy cherries wholesale with farm connections. Cherry jam is very good. I've made a lot of cherry jam. Then I got some free cherries from a friend, so I made more, I still have enough to do another batch. One batch is only about four 12oz jars. So here's my stash so far, left to right: Strawberry - Cherry - Raspberry

I remember my Mom making strawberry freezer jam when we were little. We don't have our big freezer anymore, but we do have a big pantry which is why I opted to can them. They are also all made with the low sugar pectin, so about half of the normal sugar amounts. We all think they taste great, I can't imagine what it would be like with the regular sugar/pectin amounts! Oh and our local grocery store was running a sale last week, buy two boxes of pectin get a free 5lbs sugar! That was nice :) We're going to start canning green beans soon. Not my favorite thing, but most people like them. Then it's on to peaches and pears, which we will probably be able to get wholesale this year also, very helpful. I am worried that we will get 60lbs of fruit to can and I'll go into labor....

*** I found this website very helpful:http://www.pickyourown.org/cherry_preserves.htm I also added some spices to my cherry jam from a recipe that I found in the Ball home canning book, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cloves.