I realize that I’m a month or two late for the PUMPKIN-EVERYTHING craze that annually arrives in September, but I finally gathered the time, the initiative, and the pumpkins to try my hand at making my own pumpkin puree. I’ve always been a big fan of Libby’s, but I’m pretty pleased with both the results and the ease of making this myself. Right after Halloween, it’s easy to find pumpkins for just a couple dollars, so it’s a great time of year to stock up for all your coming holiday desserts, as it freezes wonderfully.

And it’s sooooo easy. I urge you to give it a try for your own pumpkin recipes this year! Here’s how it’s done:

1. Select 1-2 small-ish pumpkins, or as many as you want to make in one batch. You can definitely puree pumpkins of any size, but they flavor and texture will be better from smaller pumpkins. These are often sold as “pie pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins”.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the stem-end of the pumpkin off, slicing off as little of the orange part as possible. Then, cut each pumpkin in half.

3. Use a metal spoon or a pumpkin scraper to clean out the cavity of each half. And don’t pitch the seeds! They make a delicious snack when they’re roasted.

4. Place the pumpkins cut-side down on the parchment paper. You can also place them cut-side up, but you’ll want to add a tablespoon of water to the cavity of each half.

5. Bake the pumpkins for 45-50 minutes. To ensure they are done, flip one half over and prick the flesh with a fork. It should be soft and easy to prick.

6. Use a metal spoon to scrape the flesh off of the skin of each half. Place the flesh in a food processor or blender. I work with one half of the pumpkin at a time to help the pureeing go quickly.

7. Empty the puree into a separate bowl and continue until all of the pumpkin flesh is pureed.

And that’s all! My sugar pumpkins yielded about 32 ounces of puree per pumpkin, or roughly the equivalent of two cans.

You can use this puree immediately if you have a dish ready to cook. Or, keep it in the fridge for up to five days.

I, however, freeze mine. I like freezing it in eight-ounce baggies. Just use regular zippered sandwich bags and a food scale to add the puree, then press them flat before freezing to maximize your storage space.

Looking for new ways to feature pumpkin at your festivities this year Try these Mini Pumpkin Cream Pies, Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream & Sugared Pecans, or Pumpkin Chiffon Pie for dessert. Or! Kick off the party with Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Dips. Then when you’re done eating them, the dip bowls will make you another great batch of pumpkin puree.

It only took a few minutes of consulting my favorite cookbooks and cookblogs to see the overwhelming consensus: lemon curd seemed to be square one for entry into the lemon-y baking world.

And to be honest, I had NO idea what lemon curd was. I couldn’t recall tasting it, though in hindsight I now realize that almost every lemon-y dessert I’d had probably used lemon curd as a base. Lemon curd, it turns out, is the happy marriage of lemons, sugar, butter, and eggs. Somewhere between the consistency of a jam and a pudding, curd can be made with any combination of citrus, though lemon seems to be the most popular.

Like most custards, it starts with eggs. This recipe only requires the yolks, but I urge you to re-purpose the whites elsewhere: fluffy omelettes, meringue, angel food cake, no sense in letting a good batch of egg whites go to waste.

Then the lemons: while lemon juice contributes quite a bit of bulk to the curd, the zest is the essential ingredient that takes this curd to a level of insane lemon happiness. I used a lot, a lot, of zest, and I’m so glad I did. It’s truly a magical addition.

To transform this mixture from a yellow slurry into a smooth and elegant topping, it cooks lightly over a bain marie. This can be easily accomplished with any heat-proof bowl and a small pot with a bit of simmering water.

After 10 or 15 minutes, the thin liquid will begin to thicken. My curd was fated to become a cake filling, so I let it thicken quite a lot, but depending on your needs it can be equally delightful a bit thinner. I waited until mine barely dripped off the spoon, and it continued to thicken in the fridge as it cooled.

This recipe makes about a pint of lemon curd, or about two cups. When you’re ready to cool the curd, make sure you press a sheet of plastic wrap over the top so that it doesn’t form a skin or crust as it cools.

Once the curd has cooled and thickened up in the fridge, it can be deliciously used in so many ways. Lemon curd also freezes rather well, so you don’t have to commit to using it all up in one batch. It’s a great way to preserve the bright, fresh spirit of lemons for future use in lemon-filled pastries, lemon cookies, lemon-y whipped cream, lemon-topped-toast…

Or, as a filling for cake. Just a thought. Recipe coming soon, promise!

Lemon Curd
Adapted from Sweetapolita and Alton Brown

Makes about 1 pint

juice and zest of 4 lemons
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
1 c granulated sugar
5 T unsalted butter, cut into small, evenly-sized cubes and chilled

Wash all lemons very well and pat dry. Remove zest using a Microplane or grater over a piece of waxed paper (don’t include the white rind, it’s quite bitter!) and set aside.

Add an inch of water to a small pot. Place a medium-sized stainless steel or glass bowl over the pot and ensure that the water won’t touch the bottom. Remove the bowl and heat the pot over medium while you juice the citrus.

Cut each lemon in half and juice, either by squeezing until all juice is removed or using a citrus reamer. Strain out pulp and seeds.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and lemon juice in the bowl you fit over the pot earlier. Once the water in the pot is simmering, reduce heat to medium-low and place the bowl of egg mixture over the pot. Add the cubes of butter and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until butter is melted and curd has thickened. It is thick enough when it clings to the wooden spoon instead of dripping right off (it will still be liquid, though).

Remove from heat and strain through a mesh strainer into another bowl. Stir in the zest and pour curd into a pint jar. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Ginger has never really been something I’ve thought about very much. Occasionally, my dad would add some ground ginger to stir fry, or I’d use some in fall desserts. But the farmers near Durham have been showcasing mounds of baby ginger at their tables for the last few weeks, and my curiosity about this knobby little root grew with each table I passed.

And with fortuitous timing, I came across this recipe for ginger apple chutney. Combined with apples & onions, also plentiful at local markets, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to buy a chunk of ginger. The recipe wasn’t written as one for canning, but I suspected the acid content would be high enough for canning and checked with a deft canning blogger to be sure.

This chutney likes a firm, tart apple. I used some of my last, precious pick-your-own Pink Ladies (sniff, sniff) but this would also work nicely with Fuji’s, Jazz, or Honeycrisp apples. Just make sure you peel them well, you won’t want any apple peelings invading your chutney.

Now how, you might ask, does one use ginger apple chutney Thus far, I’ve only used it for one out-of-this-world meal, which I promise to tell you about in my next post you can find right here! But how else I suspect this is delicious served atop a pork chop, or mixed with cream to create a spicy, flavorful sauce bursting with autumn flavor. I am eager to try it mixed with cream cheese as a dip, or even as a dip all on its own. I’ve used one of my half-pints, and I imagine I’ll use the remaining four before I’ve exhausted the ways I want to eat it.

Ginger Apple Chutney
Adapted from Katie at the Kitchen Door

Make 2-3 pints

NOTE: I’ve tested the pH of this chutney, and it is safe as written for waterbath canning. Avoid the urge to add extra onions, as they are low in acid and may alter the pH.

1 medium onion, diced
3 T minced fresh ginger
8 medium crisp apples, peeled & diced into 1/4″ pieces (Pink Lady, Fuji, or other firm apple)
1/2 c lemon juice
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 c apple cider
1 c apple cider vinegar

Dice onion, peel & mince ginger, and peel apples. Dice apples into 1/4″ pieces and place them in a separate bowl, sprinkling a bit of the lemon juice over them after adding each diced apple to prevent them from turning brown.

Heat canola oil in a large pot, at least three quarts in size. Add onion & ginger and sauté for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add apples, salt, & pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add apple cider & apple cider vinegar and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. The liquid should reduce by about 3/4 and the mixture should be thick, not liquidy. Adjust seasoning to taste with additional salt & pepper if desired.

If you are not canning the chutney, store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

For Canning
Fill 4-5 sterilized half-pint jars with chutney. Pound the jars on the counter to remove any air bubbles, and ensure that each jar has 1/2″ head space. Place flat lids on the jars and spin on the rings finger-tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Remove jars from canner and allow them to sit overnight to cool.

Remove rings from jars and lift by the edge of the flat lid to ensure a tight seal. Label jars and store in a cool, dark place.

Landing in North Carolina, and dragging luggage out of the airport in the peak of summer, is always rather shocking after several days in the cool, dry air of southwest Colorado. Sure, my hometown is hot during the day at this time of year too, but no matter what temperature the mercury hits while the sun is up, the air cools each night jeans-and-sweatshirt weather.

Every trip to Colorado seems too short, but sometimes, I get to bring little tastes of home back with me. And this time, it’s some tasty homemade jerky!

Backstory: my dad and grandfather used to raise cattle. Several years ago during a bad drought, my dad sold all of his, but in years since, he has rented out our pasture to a fellow cattleman. Last summer, instead of charging rent money, my parents got a freezer full of cow. Cow fed on grass I can see from my bedroom window. In the face of this enormous bounty,  I bought my dad a jerky-making kit with several packets of seasoning, several of cure, and a meat-oozy-thing rather like a caulking gun. He had already adopted my grandma’s old and trusty food dehydrator, so while I was home, we decided to take it out for a spin.

Jerky-making, as it turns out, is pretty straight forward. Meat and seasoning are mixed together, along with some cure to help preserve the meat, before it it formed into strips and dried for several hours to produce the tender-tough snack most of us have only ever tasted out of a Jack’s Links bag. It’s also way more fun than gas-station snacking.

After just a few hours in the dehydrator (you can also use your oven!), my dad and I were left with six sheets of warm, dry jerky, ready to make its way to North Carolina.

Now that we’ve tried these packets, I think my dad and I are both curious about the possibilities of homemade seasonings and testing out different cuts and kinds of meat. But for now, I guess I’ll have to live with six baggies of these little buggers. Oh, what a difficult life I lead…

Homemade Beef Jerky
As instructed from Nesco Jerky Spice

1 lb ground beef, fully thaw
1 packet jerky spice
1 packet jerky cure

In a medium bowl, combine beef, spice, and cure. Using your fingers, mix the spice and cure into the beef very thoroughly for several minutes. Mixture should become very sticky. If using a jerky press, form mixture into a cylinder and insert into press. If you don’t have a jerky press, tear off a small section of the mixture and roll out between your palms to create a long stick, then press flat. Continue until the full mixture has been used.

If using a dehydrator, press jerky out onto drying racks and separate evenly throughout the dryer. Dry on high heat (160 °F) for several hours until jerky is dried through.  If using your oven, set oven at 160 °F or lowest setting. Lay jerky strips on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Allow oven to vent by keeping the door ajar with a wooden spoon to permit airflow.

For whichever method of drying you are using, pat jerky dry with paper towels several times throughout the drying process to remove grease that pools on the top. Jerky is dry when it is tough but still flexible, and drying time will vary based on thickness of meat, humidity, and efficiency of your dehydrator. Remove directly from the dehydrator/oven onto paper towels. Top with another layer of paper towels and press down, soaking up as much grease as possible. Allow to cool completely, wrapped in the towels. Snip into strips of desired length.

Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag at room temperature for up to one month. For longterm storage, store in baggies in the freezer until ready to eat or to take on your next adventure!

So.

Remember the apples?

I brought home about 45 pounds of them and have hardly mentioned them since?

Yeah, those apples.

I’ll be honest, my favorite way to eat apples is whole and raw, so I don’t actually use them in many “recipes”. But I decided this year that, in order to ensure none went to waste, I would cook some down to make something I could use as a breakfast, a snack, a side, or a gift: applesauce!

Applesauce is, I think, drastically under-appreciated. It can be a cool, refreshing snack or a warm, hearty accompaniment to a well-seasoned pork chop.

I grew up on applesauce canned by my grandma, and I tried my first batch last spring with the end of that year’s batch of apples. However, I couldn’t actually can my own, as I did not have a water bath canner, a key piece of equipment for safely preserving a variety of foods.

But finally! The gi-normo pot has made its way into my apartment. Oh, the possibilities to come.

You can definitely make apple sauce without one of these guys, but you won’t be able to safely store your goods outside of refrigeration.

Next! Another handy tool: an apple peeler. Now, you can DEFINITELY make applesauce without this, but I don’t particularly recommend it. Peeling apples is… tedious. And it creates a lot more waste than this slim little blade.

Before you know, you’ll have big pot of peeled apples and the start of your very own compost pit.

From there, applesauce is pretty straight forward. Cooking apples, blending them into mush, adding sugar and spice (and everything nice?), scooping the hot sauce carefully into jars, and then boiling the jars, and voila!

But we can’t stop there. Oh no. Of the fifteen pints of apple sauce I diligently prepared, I gave thirteen of them away as gifts. I couldn’t simply give jars away.

Pretty jars! Pretty jars are better jars.

I think next year I’ll need even MORE apples. So that I can save more than two jars for myself. Maybe.

Because this is better than anything I can find in the store.

Spiced Applesauce
Adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Makes about 8 pints

Note: This recipe includes considerably less sugar than the original. Add more if you like a sweeter sauce, or remove it completely. The lemon juice, however is NOT negotiable. It will prevent your apple sauce from becoming darker over time and maintains a high acid level to ensure your canned goods remain safe to eat.

6 1/2 lbs apples peeled, cored, and quartered (about 10-12 pounds of whole apples)
water
1 c white sugar
4 T lemon juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Place prepared apples in a large stock pot with a lid. Add enough water to allow the apples to be stirred easily, which is enough to cover all but 2-3 inches of the apples. Over relatively high heat, bring apples to a boil. Place lid on the pot and cook for 10-18 minutes or until the apples are tender (this will vary with the variety of apple).

Remove apples from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Working in batches, transfer apples with a slotted spoon to a food processor or blender, shaking off as much water as possible before the transfer. Pour sauce into a second pot. If you prefer a chunky applesauce, you can simply transfer the apples to the second pot and then mash with a potato masher.

Add lemon juice, sugar, and spices to the apples and stir thoroughly. Taste the sauce and add more sugar or spice if desired.

Serve immediately OR store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks OR can.

For Canning
Before slicing  your apples, sterilize jars and lids. I run mine through an empty dishwasher and keep them on the heated dry cycle to ensure the jars stay warm. Prepare your waterbath canner as your apples are cooking. Once applesauce is prepared, return it to the stove and keep at a low boil as you ladle it into your jars, allowing 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles from jars by tapping gently on the counter and wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth. Place flat lids on jars and spin on rings until they are fingertight (do not over-tighten).

Place jars in canning rack bring to a boil. Process for 20 minutes (time should be increased at higher altitudes). Remove canner carefully from heat by sliding it to a cold burner and remove lid. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then remove jars using jar tongs, being careful not to tilt the jars. Set jars on a towel and don’t worry about the water collecting on the top, it will evaporate as the jar cools.

Allow jars to sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Remove rings from jars and ensure that a solid seal has formed. Label and store in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate after opening.

And now, for something completely out of the blue, a fresh berry jam.

No, I’m not so far behind that I’m posting recipes I made this summer.

Seriously. I went to the farmers market last week, and nestled between the butternut squash and dark, leafy greens sat some of the most fabulous raspberries I have ever seen.

I talked a lot about strawberries when I started this blog, just as they were ripening here. One might assume from so much strawberry talk that they held the highest honor in my berry kingdom.

But oh.

Raspberries.

Be still, my heart.

Luscious, tart, and totally worth the seeds that will get stuck in your teeth.

There is little to complain about with the North Carolina growing season. It’s long, it allows for multiple plantings of cool weather plants, and an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables grow here quite happily. But I have been stymied ALL SUMMER, waiting for baskets of brilliant red raspberries that would never arrive.

Until November, apparently.

Grown under passive tunnels that gather warmth without requiring electricity (as greenhouses typically do), these gorgeous gems of fruit are coming into their own when most other berries have long since disappeared from the market stands.

How does one prolong this ephemeral bounty of fruity bliss I froze about half a quart, made some delicious dessert with the remainder (coming, promise), and pulled out my canning gear for quart number two.

This was teensy batch of jam, but a delicious one. Inspired by the major success I had with Strawberry Vanilla Jam, I decided to dress up the standard raspberry jam I’ve made before with just a little bit of almond extract. To great effect, I might add.

With just a pint and a half produced, it certainly won’t last until next November. It will, however, transform many a quart of plain Greek yogurt into perfectly sweetened raspberry yogurt for the foreseeable future. Breakfast, here I come.

Awesome Raspberry Jam

4 c fresh raspberries, rinsed and shaken dry
2 c white sugar
3 T lemon juice
2 tsp almond extract

In a large pot (no smaller than 4 quarts), combine raspberries and sugar. Mash berries and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon juice and almond extract and stir. Heat until boiling, stirring regularly. Once jam is boiling, set a timer for 8 minutes. Stir constantly while jam boils. Near the end of the process, place sterilized jars and lids on a towel near your stove. After jam has cooked, stir rapidly until foam disappears and pour jam into prepared jars. Apply flat lids and rings immediately and let jars sit until “pop!” of the lid indicates the jar has sealed. If jar is partially full, store in refrigerator. Full jars should be stored in a cool, dry place.

Pickles.

Remember the giant whole pickles I used to buy them in elementary school in the snack line at recess, plucked straight from a vat of brine by the school cook and deftly wrapped in a flimsy paper napkin.  Only fifty cents! Add to that a Sunny D or a zebra cake. Then to the tire swings!!

Those were the days. Minus kids making fun of my glasses and my last name.

Nine-year olds.

I’ve always known that pickles are a relatively easy canning project, but I had never actually made them until last weekend. This particular method is easier than I could have possibly imagined.

This recipe hails from an excellent site I follow called Food in Jars. Marisa, the blogger and canner extraordinaire, recently started a series she calls “Urban Preserving” where she downsizes and simplifies canning recipes to make them more accessible to those of us who may not (yet) have canning kettles, storage cellars, or hundreds of jars waiting in the wings.

The great thing about this recipe is that it can be expanded or reduced to whatever quantity of cucumbers you have. I made  my first batch with some carefully selected cucumbers from the farmers market, but three days later walked out of my community garden with an arm load of cucumbers from a neighboring gardener who had more than he could use. Since I am more likely to eat pickles than raw cukes, I made a second batch and ended up with another few jars. Oh well. If too many pickles is the biggest problem I have, I’m doing okay.

I wanted to experiment with different pickles shapes, so I tried both spears and hamburger chips. Both shapes take the brine easily and are quite delicious, but I think I like the hamburger chips a teensy bit more. Try whatever shape makes you happy.

This particular recipe is not designed for shelf storage, but the two-jar batch won’t take up much real estate in your refrigerator. Plus, they won’t be there long anyway. Crisp, fresh, and just a little bit spicy, I steal one from the jar almost every time I open my fridge.

Once your jars are ready and your cukes are sliced, a brine is boiled briefly before it is poured into the jars. After 2-3 days of curing in the fridge, you’ll have your very own homemade pickles. Just like that.

Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles
Adapted slightly from Food in Jars

Makes 2 pints

A note about storage: The original recipe indicates that these pickles will keep for about a month in the fridge. I haven’t had mine that long yet, but I’m hoping to keep one jar to see how long the pickles actually remain crunchy. Several comments on that original recipe indicate that refrigerator pickles can last 3-4 months. We’ll see what happens.

1 1/2 pounds of pickling cucumbers (about 4-6 cucumbers)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 c white onion, chopped
2 tsp dill seed
3/4 c + 2 T apple cider vinegar
3/4 c + 2 T filtered water
2 tsp sea salt

Clean two pint jars with new flat lids. In each jar, place two cloves garlic, half of the onion (about 2 T), and 1 tsp dill seed. Slice off the ends of each cucumber, as this will help keep the pickles crisp after the brine is added. For hamburger slices, slice cucumbers about into chips about 1/8″ wide. Or, slice cucumbers into spears if you prefer. Pack cucumbers into jars tightly but without crushing the cucumbers, leaving about 1/2″ of space between the cukes and the top edge of the jar. Place jars near the stove on potholders.

In a medium sauce pan over high heat, combine vinegar, water and salt. Stir until salt is dissolved. Once the mixture comes to a full rolling boil, remove it from the heat and pour immediately into the jars, leaving about 1/4″ of space at the top of each jar and ensuring that all cucumbers are covered. Place lids tightly onto jars and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cool, pickles should be moved to the refrigerator to cure for 2-3 days.

The berries have been picked, sliced, sugared, and cooked. Each jar has announced with a satisfying little pop! of the lid that it is sealed and ready to be stored until it is opened, its contents slathered onto someone’s breakfast. Maybe mine, maybe yours.

The final step in my eight-flavor experiment in strawberry jam (who knew there was so much variety?) was definitely the most relaxing: the tasting! Sampling each variety was hugely important, you see. I mean, how else could I tell you which ones worked and which ones didn’t Trust me, there was no other reason to open so many jars of jam at one time.

I made a date of it. Made some biscuits, sat on the balcony, even grabbed a notepad to record my initial reactions to each jar. It was fancy. I may or may not have pretended I was a snooty judge on a Food Network show.

There weren’t any losers, but I definitely had some favorites. Here’s how the cookie crumbled:

Strawberry Preserves, light on the sugar
Winner, All-Around Favorite!
Thinner in consistency than the others, the slices of berries hold their shape and swim in a smooth red syrup. This is not the best choice for a PB&J, but this week, I’ve mixed it into Greek-style yogurt and drizzled it over vanilla ice cream, and the next time I make waffles, it’s going right on top. Totally awesome.

Strawberry Preserves, regular sugar
I couldn’t discern much difference between this and the version with less sugar, so I might as well just make the one with less sugar.

Strawberry Jam, standard recipe
Classic. Awesome. This has a nice jam consistency complete with little chunks of berries, which I love.

Strawberry Balsamic Jam
Since I like Balsamic Strawberries so much, I figured I’d try the flavor combination in a jam. While it doesn’t taste like I expected it to, it does add some depth and complexity to the jam. It’s a keeper.

Strawberry Vanilla Jam
Winner, Most Surprisingly Awesome!
This seriously tastes like strawberry ice cream. Even though there is no increase in sugar, the vanilla seems to emphasize the lighter, sweeter side of the strawberries. It’s delightful, and very dessert-y.

Strawberry Vanilla Balsamic Jam
I know. Fancy business. This is actually made with a vanilla-infused balsamic vinegar, and produces a lovely, darker flavor, though with a slightly brighter quality than the Strawberry Balsamic.

Strawberry Jam, honey instead of sugar
Most Disappointing…
I had really high hopes for this one. White sugar doesn’t exactly grow in North Carolina, but there are many local apiaries. I may try this one again with raw honey (I didn’t have any available on jam day) but this particular batch is not my favorite. The flavor of the honey seems to overpower the berries and leaves just a hint of bitterness in your mouth. Maybe it will grow on me It needs some work.

Overall, I’m happy with the results. I’m excited that I have jam to share with friends. And my family.

And you!

I’m really happy you’re here reading this blog and giving feedback, so I’ll be randomly selecting three (3) of you to win a jar of the strawberry jam that most appeals to you. Sound good I hope so!

How to Win Some Jam CLOSED
1. Leave a comment on this post answering this question: Which recipes or types of food would you like to see on 30 Pounds of Apples
OR
2. Like-a-dee-like 30 Pounds of Apples on Facebook.
OR
3. Do both, and enter twice!

Enter before midnight on Friday, May 20, or you’ll turn into a pumpkin and you’ll have no jam. Winners will be announced on Saturday, May 21.

And for those of you who wanna make some jam of your own, the recipes and variations are below. Make some. Then find a biscuit!

Seven-Minute Strawberry Preserves
Adapted from Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking
Makes about 2 pints

4 c sliced or halved strawberries (no soft spots)
2 c + 1/3 c white sugar
3 T lemon juice

Wash, hull and slice berries to the shape you want. Pour into a bowl. Sprinkle 1/3 c sugar over berries and add lemon juice. Stir. Let mixture stand in refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to make the preserves, prepare a 3-4 quart saucepan on the stove. Add 2 c sugar and stir gently. Stop stirring and heat until boiling. Boil for seven minutes. Shake pan or stir occasionally while cooking. Prepare sterilized jars and lids on a towel near the stove. Once cooking is complete, remove from heat and stir until foam relaxes and you can see the dark jam below. Pour into hot sterilized jars and lid immediately. Set aside. Once lids have popped inward, they are sealed. Let jars cool completely and then store in a cool, dry place.

Strawberry Jam
From my Grandma Emma
Makes a little more than 2 pints

4 c sliced strawberries
4 c white sugar
1/4 c lemon juice

Sterilize jars and lids. I like to keep in the dishwasher on the drying cycle to keep them warm while making the jam. Around 3 minutes from the end time, pull them out and place them on a towel on the counter near the stove with your lids ready.

Wash and slice strawberries and dump them into a large sauce pan (at least a 4 quart pan). Mash berries slightly with a potato masher. Add sugar & lemon juice. Turn on stove to medium-high and stir constantly. Once jam comes to a rolling boil, start timer for 7-8 minutes, and continue to stir constantly.

Remove from heat and continue stirring until foam collapses and has mostly dissipated. Stir quickly so the jam stays really hot. Pour into jars, leave 1/4-1/2 inches of room at the top of the jar. If you have a canning funnel, use it to reduce splatter. If you don’t have one, don’t worry about it, just use caution when pouring, it’s HOT. As soon as jam is poured, place fresh flat lid on jar and add metal ring to tighten. Set aside and let rest. Seals will “pop” inward within 20-30 minutes.

Let jars sit overnight, then label and store!

Variations (based on original Strawberry Jam recipe)

For Strawberry Balsamic Jam, reduce lemon juice to 1 T and add 3 T balsamic vinegar.
For Strawberry Vanilla Jam, reduce lemon juice to 2 T and 2 T vanilla. Boil for one additional minute.
For Strawberry Vanilla Balsamic Jam, reduce lemon juice to 1 T and add 3 T of vanilla balsamic vinegar.
For Strawberry Jam with Honey, substitute honey for white sugar (and let me know it turns out!)

Soooooo, twenty-0ne pounds of strawberries. Now what?

I wish you could have seen the faces of other customers entering the strawberry field as I was attempting to tote these boxes out. Most of them looked at me with a bizarre look of pity. Like I’d gone off the deep end. And/or had a serious strawberry addiction.

In case you’re just now tuning in, I spent the early hours of sunshine last Saturday picking strawberries to transform into jam, and after arriving home with my loot, it was time to start preserving.

Freezing Fresh Berries

While most would agree that berries are best when eaten fresh & ripe, they also freeze really well. In my stubborn attempt to avoid purchasing produce when it is incredibly out of season, freezing berries opens up many possibilities to enjoy fruit when it’s snowy (or, in my current location, semi-cold and gray). Berries can be frozen in a syrup or juice, but I prefer to freeze them whole.

What You Need

cookie sheets (make sure they fit in your freezer… trust me on this one and test the space with an empty sheet before you start)
parchment paper
freezer
berries (if you don’t have those, you’re doing the wrooooong project)

It’s pretty straight forward. Sort through your berries and find the beauty queens. Freezing berries with soft spots isn’t the best idea, so find the nicest, firmest, most beautiful berries in the bunch. Wash them, pop off their tops and if you can, pop out the hull (the white firm spot right beneath the green leaves). Arrange them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper so that they aren’t touching. Then freeze ’em!

I froze one sheet for about three hours and another tray for twenty-four, so I’ll keep you posted about any difference between them when I actually use them on some dreary winter day in the future. Why did I not just freeze them in their container and skip the teetering tray of berries step This way, I will be able to pull out exactly the number of berries I want rather than one giant clump of them fused together. Just planning ahead. For smoothies. Who needs ice when you have frozen strawberries?

Anyway. Moving on.

Canning Jam

Maybe it was just me and my very amateur experience in canning, but the longest part of this process was the preparation. Before any boiling jam could be bottled, there were berries to wash and slice, batches of preserves to sugar overnight, jars to purchase and sanitize, surfaces to cover. It’s a big project.

Once I had everything prepared, though, the batches actually moved rather quickly. It’s really just the same process over and over again until you run out of berries. Or sugar. Or jars. Or stamina. Whichever comes first.

Take a break halfway through and eat something salty for lunch. Your house will smell like it’s filled with strawberries. It is.

The biggest temptation to resist was to try and double the batches. See how innocent and small this batch looks in the pan when it first goes on the stove?

And then how HUGE it get once it begins to boil I’m thankful every minute I trusted my grandma’s recipe and left the proportions as they were. Unless you have a much larger pot than this (I think mine is four quarts), I suggest starting small to see how much it increases in size.

And so, after preparing and cooking as many berries I could stand, I stepped back to admire the results.

Ta da!

…Ta da?

Oh man…

My kitchen was pink. My shoes made that “fffwich!” noise on the floor as they became progressively more sticky. There was jam in my hair. Strawberry tops everywhere. The stove needs cleaned. The floor needs mopped. I need another shelf in my pantry.

But I have jam. Eight different varieties in thirty-seven jars. So stay tuned for the epic conclusion, Strawberry Jam Part III: Recipes + Results, to discover how they turned out. And maybe you can taste some for yourself. :)

Also:
I’m sooo not an expert on canning, and though I started this post with the intention of outlining every step, I honestly feel a bit uncomfortable going into immense detail about the rights and wrongs of home food preservation. Why I’ve only been canning jam for a couple of summers, and I haven’t yet ventured into any pickles, salsas, or other preserves. So until I get some more experience under my belt, I’m gonna leave it to the experts. These are some of the best resources out there for learning to can. I also learned much of my technique from my grandma, but she’s not linkable. Silly.

Strawberry jam: the first recipe in food preservation cookbooks, the poster child for all things homemade, and glistening ruby red in quilted glass jars and wrapped with a ribbon of twine.

And you can make it with tools you probably have in your kitchen already.

Now, baskets of still-earthy vegetables from the farmer’s market seem to provide the standard imagery for the local food movement, but my goal is to eat as locally as possible all year long, which involves learning how to preserve food when it is plentiful to get through months when it is not. And while jam is not the most necessary of foods, it is a great starting point if you want to learn to can. Which I do.

I’m sure you can tell where this is going: I made some jam! Okay; I made a lot of jam. So let’s rewind from this spoonful of crimson goodness, and I’ll tell you all about it.

Pick-Your-Own Strawberries

A key ingredient of strawberry jam, as you might imagine, is a hefty amount of fresh strawberries. You can go about procuring these berries however you want, but I chose to find a local farm where I could pick them myself.

The premise of a pick-your-own farm, or a “u-pick”, as they are commonly called, is simple: a grower plants their crop, then instead of harvesting it and selling it in turquoise paper baskets, they invite customers to the farm to pick it themselves at a much lower price. While most pick-your-owns also offer some pre-picked goods for sale at the farm stand, the labor burden is significantly reduced since the majority of harvesting is done by the customers themselves. They get free labor, you get a good price on berries, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Unless you are living in the heart of a very large and very urban city, there’s a pretty good chance you can find a pick-your-own farm surprisingly close by. Waller Family Farm, my farm of choice for this particular excursion, is only a few miles away from my apartment, just outside of the Durham city limits. As a kid I couldn’t really imagine that urban and rural landscapes could co-exist so closely, so this kind of proximity still amazes and delights me.

There are not many occasions for which I’ll set a 7:30am alarm on a Saturday, but spending a couple of hours in a humid field is one of them. Going early beats the heat, the crowds and the bugs, and since I’ve made the afternoon mistake in the past, I arrived at the farm with a few other early birds to pick the first berries of the day.

Waller Family Farm grows Chandler strawberries, a variety known for producing large, firm berries that ripen to a brilliant red. They are gorgeous, juicy and delicious.

For anyone out there who might grumble about paying $4 for a quart of fresh-picked strawberries at the farmer’s market, I encourage you to take a couple of hours picking some yourself. Even an early, post-rain morning quickly became hot and humid, and by the time I had filled my boxes (which took about 2 hours), my back and knees were quite sore. But the extra effort of picking these berries yourself makes them even sweeter.

All twenty-one pounds of them.

Have you ever been to a pick-your-own farm Wanna try one Pickyourown.org is a great resource for learning about farms all over the country that will let you venture into their fields to pick your own strawberries, blueberries, apples, pumpkins, peas… you get the idea. Take some friends, your kids, or just yourself, and become a little more connected to your food and the land it comes from. It’s totally worth your time.

Coming next: Strawberry Jam, Part II: Preserving