Strawberry Jam for the Last Week of School

Today is the first day of the last (half) week of school.

Yesterday, I went to the farmer's market and bought a half-flat of strawberries in order to make jam, mostly to give the boys' teachers as end of year presents. There's enough for a few other gifts and for us on special occasions in the winter as well.

Last night for dinner, we had scrambled eggs, with spicy salsa for the grownups and fresh Ranier cherries on the side. And unlimited slices of whole wheat toast and minutes old, not quite set, strawberry jam.

I also made a batch of apricot jam, but apricots don't work as well as strawberries in freezer jam. The sugar doesn't dissolve as well. I think I tried this once before and was disappointed then too. Maybe I'll remember next year if I write it down this year. It should cook up into a fine apricot sauce anyway.

I'm not going to post the recipe for jam, because it's on the box of pectin. I recommend Certo brand liquid pectin and the freezer jam recipe for the quickest, easiest, most delicious jam you'll ever make. In the grocery store aisle with the baking ingredients, you will probably find the jars, the pectin, and the sugar you need. I also recommend getting new plastic containers with screw on lids for freezer jam. The back of the box will tell you how much fruit you will need for strawberry jam. Recipes for many other kinds of jams and jellies are on the paper insert inside the box.

Deee-licious!