Making Jam Requires Protective Gear

Strawberry picking is a favorite activity of mine. Usually my mom, sister, and I make a trip to the fields in late June for the sweet smell of strawberries. I love those little red berries. I am kind of a berry-a-holic. Love em' and that's no lie.

This year my sister and I decided to go. We took my two year old nephew, Austin, with us for his first berry picking trip. He was so sweet. We weren't sure if he would be content or if he would be bored after 5 minutes. It's a toss up. He was surprisingly good. Typically he ate two berries for every one he picked. Unfortunately, the berries we picked were small and rather tart. See we had a really terrible spring... cold pretty late and lots of rain.

We decided to try another berry farm later in the week. I love spending time with my sister. This was a fun trip with lots of laughs, a new nickname for me, and getting lost (but not really lost.) I have to give it to my sister. She is 8 months prego and she was picking with the best of them.

I never really decided what I wanted to do with my flat of strawberries. My sister suggested making jam, which I've never made before. I agreed and we set off to make our first batch of jam. First of all, do you know how much sugar is in jam? It's crazy! Our first batch was just strawberry and it was a double batch. I couldn't understand why it took so dnag long to get the berries to come to a rolling boil. Duh...the burner was not on high. It took a bit, but we were successful. All the lids popped! Yeah!

The second batch was strawberry-blueberry. This one boiled rather quickly. It popped and I think the berries gave me first degree burns. I didn't realize I needed special protective gear to make jam. This is my scared face...not my best picture!  

After we finished the jam, we decided to decorate up our jars to give as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. To make the tag we used the Tart & Tangy stamp set by Stampin' Up for the strawberry, scraps of fabric I had on hand, and cardstock from Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety pack.

We even tried some of the jam today (just to test it out) and it was delish! We just followed the directions on the Sure Jell recipe! I feel like a bad, but good mama "jam"a. He he!