We live in an agricultural area that is rich in upick produce, farm stands and fresh produce. I'd like to say that I have always taken advantage of this bounty but that would not be the case. I became a farmers market convert a few years ago and love it. Last year, at the nudging of my daughter-in-law, I ventured into the world of upick. We took the little boys to pick cherries and they had a great time. I took Ter out again this year and we had fun filling our bucket with cherries. Our pickings were just enough to munch on and make a cherry cobbler.With that success under my belt Terr and I picked up Andrew and we went in search of a strawberry field. We found one and headed out to find the juiciest berries. The boys did a great job and picked the equivalent of about 8 baskets of strawberries. Now what? Andrew took his pail home but that left us with way too many strawberries for a household filled with guys who don't like strawberry.
Hmmm.... They do like strawberry jam though. I think they could consume it by the barrel full. So I decided to try my hand at making jam. I had heard once that freezer jam was easy and since I had never made jam before "easy" was a lure. I found a well reviewed recipe and started to work. 
Five cups of berries were mashed in a large bowl. Four cups of white sugar was folded in and left to sit. In a small saucepan I put one envelope of pectin and 3/4 cup of water on to boil. After boiling this for 3 minutes I poured it over the strawberry mixture and stirred it well. That's it.
If you want to make a bunch you probably need to double the recipe. This made 6 one-cup containers. Here's the disclaimer: It's not cost efficient when you start adding up the cost of everything. But it was satisfying. And I'm looking forward to my toast and jam tomorrow morning for breakfast. Yum!
