Jammin'

Last week we had a jam session at my house! Strawberries are in season, and I've always wanted to learn to make my own jam. In fact, several years ago I bought a bunch of jam jars specifically because I intended to make strawberry jam. And, eight years later, they were collecting dust in my garage (after having collected plenty of dust in my apartment previously!). My dear friend Siobhan talked about how she'd made tons of jam, and I mentioned how I'd always wanted to learn. So we picked a night, and got to work!Jam is actually really easy to make. The thing that worried me was just properly preparing the jars. I'd read tales of botulism poisoning and was very paranoid. Plus, I didn't have any canning equipment - nor did I even know what canning equipment looked like, really. Siobhan and Cassie were experts, though, and I was in good hands!We made five batches of jam, which made all these jars! The next morning, Joey insisted on opening one of the jars to taste. He actually ate several spoonfuls - which amazed me, since he's usually not a big fan of jam. I guess it was a hit!

Now that I've made strawberry jam, I look forward to my next canning endeavor. My mom has two peach trees, and usually the peaches end up going to waste. There's so many, and it seems like they're all ripe at once! So I'm hoping to can some of those. And eventually, when my garden gets going and I have cucumbers, I want to make my own pickles. I'm quite excited about it. Hooray for homesteading skills!