Thursday, July 7, 2011

Stawberry Honey Jam

It's late and the combination of a sleepy Mama brain and having so much to say makes this post all over the place (and it also means I am behind on replying to comments on here) I hope it makes sense. Ok, you have been warned!



In true Oregonian fashion we picked strawberries in the mud and rain (which explains why there are no photos of the actual event) with some of our friends. It was a lot of fun and quite comical, really. Not only was it raining but the sprinklers turned on as we were picking, sending us into giggles with the irony of it all. C was in a bit of a panic over it (she really, really does not like surprises), luckily it was nothing that a few delicious Hood strawberries couldn't fix. Baby L didn't find the rain quite as funny nor the constant bending down while I picked so Kevin walked around the farm with him, instead.



We got in a couple of hours worth of picking before all the little ones decided they had enough. The girls and I managed to pick 5 1/2 pounds of strawberries, although I would say between the three of us we ate another 1 - 2 pounds. Hood strawberries really are sweeter than any other strawberries I have ever tasted. Next year I hope we can pick a lot more.



On a size note: Do you see how covered in mud we all were? Perhaps the picture below will show it a bit better. It wasn't until we got home that I fully realized that my girls went strawberry picking in the mud in their new Mama made dresses.



Inhale. 'What was I thinking?!' came into my head but then quickly went right back out when I saw their happy faces. In my eyes, mud and dirt on children tells a story and shows just how much fun the child had outside. Exhale. Ahhhh, thank you again, my little ones, for reminding me of what really is important here. I am constantly learning. Anyways, I scrubbed the dresses on a washboard and they came out nearly stain free. Ok now back to the strawberries...




Why yes, that is a pillowcase on C's head - she informed us it was her hair.

We got the strawberries home and got to work washing and sorting them, tasting a few along the way. Our first matter of business was to cut up and freeze some to save for pancakes and muffins in the winter. After that we decided on making jam. I haven't made jam in years because every recipe I have seen calls for sugar, and I couldn't see any way of getting around it. I am not sure if I have mentioned it or not before but our little ones don't eat sugar, except for a rare special treat once in a blue moon, but then we usually pay for that sweet treat and remember one of the reasons why we avoided sugar in the first place. It's just our personal choice, and I am not saying that everyone should be sugar-free. I have been trying for years to wean myself and Kevin off of it, as well. I can't get over how addicting it is and how hard it truly is to give it up. With my children as my guides I do hope to kick the habit very soon.



After a bit of searching and a lot of determination we got a recipe and made our jam using honey in place of sugar. I thought I would share it with you in the hope to help out anyone who may have had the same problem as we did. The jam is out of this world. We have already gone through half our batch. I guess it won't make it to the winter but all we can do is live and learn. We'll make many more batches next year. I am hoping to try this with blackberries when they come into season, too.



Strawberry Honey Jam

1 3/4 cups honey
4 cups chopped up and mashed strawberries
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 2-ounce boxes powdered pectin

Makes roughly 4 1/2 one pint jars
(We ate the half jar within a day or two)

Thoroughly wash your freshly picked strawberries and remove the stems and leaves. Then chop them up into small pieces and put them in a bowl. Using your potato masher, mash them down until they reach your desired consistency (we like quite a few bits of medium sized strawberries in our jam).

Next, sterilize 4-5 pint jars in boiling water and keep them simmering while preparing your jam.

In a 5-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the strawberries and pectin and bring to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the honey and lemon juice and bring back to a boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes,stirring constantly.Remove from heat, skim off any foam and transfer to sterilized jars.Seal jars with lids and screw bands, and process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Remove jars from the water bath and allow to stand undisturbed for 1 hour. If you can manage to not eat it all before the strawberry season even ends - the sealed jars can be kept in a cool, dark pantry for 1 year.




Now I am craving some toast with jam, or perhaps just eating jam with a spoon...
Enjoy!
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Comments (28)

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We can always tell a good days play by how dirty their faces & clothes are at the end of the day...not to mention the state of the bath tub!
Thank you for sharing the recipe
x
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thank you so much... It was on my list to search for a jam recipe made with honey... our strawberry season is just starting here in Queensland and we'll definitely give yours a try.
1 reply · active 733 weeks ago
The jam looks delicious! I love the shot of C with the pillowcase for hair. It reminds me of those stories with people in gowns and nightcaps. :) I started using a recipe this year that calls for much less sugar (and no added pectin!) from the Orangette blog. Much more berry taste to the jam. I'll have to give this one a try too! Enjoy your jam! xoxo
1 reply · active 733 weeks ago
Sounds lovely! Your recipe has a much more reasonable amount of ingredients than some of the conventional ones. I would love to have blackberry jam with honey--ours will be ready in a couple weeks.
Yum! The kids and I ate 3 gallons of strawberries before I did any sort of preserving this year! My boys don't like strawberry jam, so I only made one jar of preserves using just strawberries and a touch of honey. It was gone in a week, ha ha. I am also trying to rid the kids of sugar. They don't have much, but it is in everything! I recently eliminated gluten, sugar, and dairy from my diet due to health issues and I was amazed at how much better I feel!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
What sweet pictures - oh the mud will just add to the memories.
Your jam looks wonderful!
This makes me want to go pick some strawberries too!! I planted 23 strawberry plants this year but up here in Washington we're just not getting enough sunshine! We get a handful here and there but nothing like what you got to pick!! Thanks for sharing!!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Your weather sounds alot like our weather here in England! Thanks for the recipe for SF jam. We rarely have sugar in our house. Did it set OK? I tried making it last year with agave nectar and it didn't work so well. Love that the girls wore their mama made dresses and so pleased you got them clean!! :) x
1 reply · active 733 weeks ago
Don't know what kind of pectin you used, but Pamona's is great for use little sugar or using honey. They have recepies in the box. Standard pectin calls for 4 cups of sugar per 4 cups of fruit. (That would be why I never made jam before last summer.) Pamona's gives a recipe for 4 cups fruit with just 3/4 cup honey, which means that your jam actually tastes like fruit instead of sugar. cheers.
1 reply · active 733 weeks ago
I had great admiration for you when you mentioned those dresses were for berry picking. Boy do they ever look sweet - mud and all. I'm glad you got most of the stains out!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. We do a lot of canning - including a lot of jam making and all that sugar makes me shudder. I'll be refilling my honey stock at the market and giving this recipe a try!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
So very sorry we missed all the muddy fun! And that jam...mmmm. My DS didn't have cane sugar until he was 2 1/2...in chocolate. Now he's a chocolate ADDICT. Oy! So, I applaud you on sparing your kids the addiction! If only I could be so disciplined for myself :-)
if you want sugar free jam use Pamona's Universal pectin. You can get it on amazon. It has variations for low sugar and sugar free as well as using sugar substitutes. It works like a charm. I used low sugar and honey. I am trying to get my kids sugar intake lower. They love to eat the strawberries out of the garden, but unfortunately, like their jam sweet. I made half of my jam with low sugar and the rest with honey.
1 reply · active 733 weeks ago
gorgeous!!!!
I agree with what Brandy said above. I am in need of a blackberry jam recipe made with honey. The blackberries will be hitting us hard here in a few more weeks and I have too have not been using sugar and would like a jam recipe that only uses honey. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I can't wait to try it out!
My DD is 5 1/2 (attends a Steiner school too!) and is loving finger knitting. She comes home every day with piles of her creations. Haven't heard of 4 finger knitting though. Looks beautiful! My son turns 3 on Sat. Makes me laugh when I read your posts because we have so much in common. :) The clothes you make are beautiful!! x
You can also substitute boxes of pectin with granny smith apples and lemon peels. I made some strawberry jam recently that way with honey and it turned out great. I want to check out the book: Canning for a New Generation. I hear there are a lot more natural preservation recipes in there that don't use lots of sugar and boxed pectins.

:)Lisa
dogretro's avatar

dogretro · 728 weeks ago

I used this recipe and it did not gel up AT ALL. Worst was, I doubled it, that was four boxes of pectin at $3 a pop, yikes! I tried it again later w/ Ball low/no sugar pectin (1 1/2 T.) & it gelled *perfectly*. You can use honey, low sugar, or no sugar with any fruit, just wing it! I have made many many many jars of jam this summer and have learned that the recipes are really only a guideline :)
Thanks for the recipe! I do my strawberry jam in a different way. I don't mash the berries, I leave them whole. It is so great to open a jar of jam in winter and to enjoy eating whole strawberries with pancakes or toasts.

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