First I took the leaves off of them, I borrowed a GIGANTIC bowl from my neighbor. I don't think you can understand how many strawberries I bought, it was ridiculous.
Here are all of them, they almost took up the whole top shelf of the fridge.
So, I decided to use the freezer jam recipe inside of the pectin package. It called for 8 cups of mashed up strawberries. I didn't have a potato masher so I decided to throw the strawberries into the blender. BAD BAD IDEA! Apparently when you do this the strawberries expand and get all foamy. I didn't realize the problem at this point so I continued following the recipe. 8 cups of strawberries and 16 cups of sugar...seemed like a lot of sugar, but I just went for it. Notice how liquidy the stuff is.
My lovely assistant, Mariela, made the pectin and we added it to the strawberry/sugar mixture. I tasted the final mixture and it was SOOOO SUGARY. I started blending more strawberries and adding them into the mixture. DISASTER! I finally gave up.
I had all these empty cans from my grandma's applesauce so I decided to fill them anyways. The jam is pretty sugary, but I still loved it. It never set up, so I have to use a spoon, but it is great as syrup on pancakes! 
After the catastrophe I started asking around and I got some help from family and friends, here are some lessons learned on freezer jam.
1. Just buy a potato masher for $5 and don't use a blender
2. Never add as much sugar as they say. My mom said that she never felt right about adding more sugar than fruit. (I'd like some help in this area still to get a feel for exactly how much sugar to add).
3. NEVER try to reinvent the wheel. I don't know why I didn't ask one of the 15 immediate relatives I have that already know how to make freezer jam for help. Next time I will be smarter!
I still have 5 quart bags full of strawberries that were leftover so I will be trying this again in a while when we run out of jam (probably not any time soon). Hopefully take two will be better!
4 comments:
Last year we made tons of strawberry jam. It is really good. If you would like the recipe, we would be happy to send it to you. It does use clear jel though.
I am so glad to have found your website. I can hardly wait for your recipe for Sheperd's Pie. My daughter use to make it and I don't know how.
Elise I would LOVE your recipe, especially since I still have a freezer full of strawberries!
Bonnie- I will try to do shepherds pie soon, I just use the recipe at allrecipes.com. Here is the link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amazing-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx
I usually read the first few reviews and adjust the way I make it according to that. I am a total copy cat when it comes to recipes!
Just be careful using frozen strawberries. They have the same problem as blending them where they come out super liquid-y.
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