Shelagh and I went Strawberry picking last weekend up at the farm where we get our CSA. We picked a case of beautiful, ripe, sweet fruit which we planned to make into jam. Good thing, too, b/c all the rain we've gotten up here has pretty much wiped out the strawberry crop that remains after last weekends strawberry festivals at most of the U-Pick farms around here. By yesterday, they were starting to rot already so it was a day of jam-making for us.
The 29 jars broke down into Strawberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Mixed Berry, and Strawberry-Cherry. My finger nails are permanently stained from pitting cherries using a paring knife. My cherry pitter sucks and this was the fastest way. What a pain in the ass. They all came out good, although still too sweet I think. The classic jam recipes call for 5-6 cups of fruit to 7 cups of sugar. Yes, 7 cups of sugar! I actually did 6 cups of sugar last year and it was too sweet, so this year I went down to 3-4 cups of sugar and even that is too much. I'm thinking 2 cups is plenty for next time.
Rory mashing and Shelagh sorting and eating!
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