Strawberry Jam Forever

Last year I took the girls strawberry picking somewhat close to our house.  It was a hot day and I remember having bad allergies and swatting bugs; not a very pleasant time.  We picked a few pounds and I made some jam.  Well, the jam was such a hit that we ran out completely.  So this year, when Kelly suggested that we make a little more than last year, I was reluctantly game.

I read in the local paper that the time to go was early morning; the berries were best then and the fields aren't too crowded.  So last Saturday we got the girls up at 6 a.m., dressed in clothes that could be stained with strawberry juice, and headed out.

Talk about a different experience!  It was a nice, cool morning with good cloud cover.  We chose the best Saturday to go because the berries were at their peak.  We got to go for a little wagon ride and they assigned us two rows for picking.  The only rule of the farm is that you get to sample as much as you want.  The girls loved finding the biggest berries, but the sweetest ones were little.

I know that my outfit is bad.  I am in that awkward in-between regular clothes and maternity clothes stage, and so I think I just look baggy all the time.  Anyway, here are the girls with their collecting boxes, perfect size for small arms to carry.

And here we are with the final count.  In a little over an hour, we picked over 30 pounds of strawberries, not counting the ones we ate.  WOW!

I took them home and proceeded to start using them before they went rotten.  In total, I made 55 cups of jam (half cooked, half freezer), a recipe of sorbet, a pie, and 7 cups of puree, ready for ice cream later this summer.  After thinking about, eating, cooking, chopping, and blending strawberries for four days, I can't really look at another one for a while,let alone eat one.  But this winter, when we're eating jam that tastes like a bit of summer, I know they will taste delicious again.