Breakfast of champions: Strawberry jam, toast & coffee. Photo: Kim O'Donnel.
A half-flat of lipstick-red strawberries was calling my name earlier this week. Their honeyed perfume was darn near intoxicating on the car ride home. I quickly hulled, rinsed, pat-dried the ruby jewels and froze them overnight, as they were ripening by the minute.
The next morning, my canning partner in crime and I got to work. We had a total of nine cups of berries.
On the left burner, a kettle of water was at a rolling boil. On the right, a large saucepan was the home for berries, 3 cups of sugar (we did a 3 to 1 ratio) and 1/4 cup of bottled lemon juice.
Jeanne reminded me that as fruit ripens, the pectin level diminishes, so we knew this batch of berries might take a bit longer to gel. Total cook time: 40 minutes. The house was filled with strawberry perfume; we were swooning and oohing and aahing.
Nine cups of berries yielded 7 half-pints, plus a little extra for cook’s treat (which you see pictured above). Total processing time (after water comes to a boil with sterilized, packed jars in the kettle): 10-12 minutes.
Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping. Music to our ears, just moments after jars are lifted out of the water bath.
Cost of half flat: $9.99. This morning’s breakfast: Priceless.
Now go put something up, ya hear?
Stay tuned later this week for a Canning Cheat Sheet, with safety basics that you can post on the fridge for reference.
