Did I ever mention how much I hated canning when I was young? My parents had an acre and a half garden and they utilized every inch of it. My mom would can everything she could get her hands on; peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, soup, okra, apples, peaches, grapes, blackberries, pickles. You name it, we canned it. And we didn’t can just a few jars either; she believed in quantity. We could easily can 300 jars of whatever fresh produce was available in one day. I swore if I ever got away from the farm I’d never can again.
Once I was married my opinion began to change. The produce I picked from my small veggie garden (or better yet, the produce my parents or in-laws picked from their gardens and gave to me) had that wonderful fresh-picked taste I couldn’t get from the store. It was so satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labor! But the best part? I could control the amount of food I canned. Twelve jars today? Yes, sounds good! Six jars today? Great!
If you have been itching to try your hand at canning, August 1st is International Can-It-Forward Day. Sponsored by Ball and now in its fifth year, this event is broadcast live from Jarden Home Brands headquarters in Fishers, Indiana and celebrates the joys of fresh preserving. To join in the celebration, I’ve shared a recipe for our sweet and simple Strawberry Jam.
Here’s what you need to make it:
Before you begin, be sure to mash your strawberries with a potato masher or something similar. I used my Automatic Jam and Jelly maker, but it can be made on the stove, you just have to do more stirring. Of course, you know I couldn’t leave the recipe alone, so I made some substitutions. I added apple-raspberry juice instead of the water and threw in some blackberries because I had some fresh ones I had picked off the vines in the garden.
I made the jam to place in my freezer instead of canning because I had more room in my freezer than in my pantry!
And, if you haven’t seen the latest Ball products yet, check out their 2015 Limited Edition Ball® Heritage Collection Purple Jars in Regular Mouth Pint and Wide Mouth Quart , the Multi Colored Sip & Straw lids that can make any jar into a cup or the specialty canning lids in fun and funky colors.
- 2 lbs crushed strawberries, with stems and tops removed
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup water (or substitute juice)
- 6 tablespoons Ball Realfruit Classic Pectin
- Wash strawberries, drain. Remove stems and caps. Crush strawberries using a potato masher. Add strawberries and juice in a medium saucepan. Add lemon juice and sugar. Allow to stand for ten minutes. Combine pectin and water in a small saucepan, bring to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for one minute. Add pectin mixture to jam mixture and ststir for three minutes. Ladle jam into plastic freezer containers. Let stand for 30 minutes and freeze.
Want to try your hand at canning? Today is International Canning Day with Ball. The event will be broadcast live online at FreshPreserving.com from 11AM – 4PM EST from the new state-of-the-art Jarden Home Brands headquarters in Fishers, Indiana. The webcast will have an integrated chat function where viewers can submit their home canning questions to be answered in real time. New this year, there will also be an exciting celebrity mason jar auction unveiled during the webcast! Use the hashtag #canitforward. Please share and tag @BallCanning on any social channels! On Twitter, the chat will be pulled into the webcast and we will answer any questions live.
Now this looks good, I’m going to have to try this on my own. My kids would love it.
I love homemade jam. I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Oh this looks amazing! I would love to try my hand at homemade jam!
This looks SO SO good! I love homemade jam! I love jars from Ball, they are my favorite!
I want to take the kids strawberry picking here in NH so this is a recipe I am going to book mark to make with them. Yummy! I also love that it is gluten free.
I’ve never made my own jam. I’d like to give it a try- thanks for the recipe!
Ohh I can almost taste it through the pictures. I love strawberry jam! I’ve never canned. I have watched my grandma do it though. 🙂
This looks like such a great recipe Pam. I love anything with strawberries!
Your jam sounds amazing! I’ve always wanted to try my hand at canning!
I love canning my own foods. There is just something about knowing you grew it or you gathered it from local growers and created this beautiful thing that your family can benefit from during the winter when gardens are not in season.
We pick a lot of strawberries each summer. This year since we still had jam we dried a lot of them. Will save your recipe for next year though for sure!
Yum this looks and sounds great! My grandma and mom used to make some great jam, but I never did get to find out how they did it or what the process was. So this will be fun to try!
I have got a Ball collection, but I need those colorful lids. I haven’t done much canning, but it looks like fun. I can’t wait to try your jam recipe.
Oh my goodness, I LOVE strawberry jam! This actually looks like something I could make too, I usually shy away from jams!
Once I had homemade jam for the first time I was hooked. Store bought can’t even come close. I will be trying this recipe with my kids very soon.
I have never made my own jam before, but I have wanted too. Strawberry jam sounds delicious.
Sorry, I meant “to.”
We make homemade jam a lot this time of year. So much fun and tastes great.
I have always wanted to make homemade jam or jelly. So thank you! I have pined and intend to try.
I had no idea that August 1st is International Can-It-Forward Day! The closest I come to ‘home-made’ jam is smuckers, LOL!!! Thanks for sharing the strawberry jam recipe looks delish!
I love strawberry jam and would love to avoid the extra ingredients from store-bought. I will have to try making my own!
You make this sound so easy. I may have to give it a try!
I love making homemade jam! It’s such a great thing to have on hand at the house! Love those purple canning jars!
My mom cans a lot. I’ve never tried it myself, but I really want to can vegetables (and jams!) one day.
I didn’t know they made the Ball jars with the lids like that! I need to get some!
I can’t wait to give this a try. I love home made jam, and this recipe is easier than the one I currently use.
This sounds delicious, easy & healthy! Can’t wait to try to make it!
I love homemade jam SO much! There’s nothing like it.