It's strawberry season!!

   Hi, my name is Magda and I'm a strawberry addict! It's not a joke, I'm not trying to be cute or funny, I just have a serious problem with strawberries (and watermelon, but that's a different story). Normally I can control it by buying just one small box of them in the store... but when May comes and the berry farms have their "pick your own strawberries and eat as much as you can" deal, I'm in big trouble! What ends up happening is that Justin is picking the strawberries that we take home and I'm just going through the field like a giant strawberry vacuum cleaner inhaling all the berries. You would think that an "adult" would recognize when he/she is full and can't eat anymore and stop, but not me, I eat strawberries until I can't no longer walk, think, or keep my pants buttoned! Strawberries are my kryptonite. Last weekend was no different, we went to the berry farm, picked few tons of strawberries (ate even more) and brought them home to make strawberry preserves!

   There is absolutely nothing better than home made jam, you won't find it anywhere! Here is the recipe:

*  5-6 lb strawberries
*  5-6 cups sugar (depends how sweet you like it)
*  lemon juice (from one lemon)
*  8 tbsp pectin (depends on the manufacturer)

   In a large pot, mix quartered strawberries with sugar and let them stand for about 2 hours (to let the juices come out). Put the pot on medium heat and cook strawberries slowly for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add lemon juice and pectin and cook for exactly one more minute (or whatever the pectin manufacturer recommends). Sterilize jars and lids in boiling water, pour the hot preserves into the jars and close the lids. Transfer filled jars into boiling water (do not cover completely with water), boil them for 5 minutes, take them out of the pot and let them stand for an hour so the lids can pop and seal. All is left to do is enjoy your labor. From 6 pounds of fruit I got 14 jars of preserves!

   Of course we "had to" open one jar to make sure it was good and let me tell you.... it's not "good", it's heavenly!!! So flavorful, sweet and tangy, with big chunks of fruit! No matter how much you pay for the store bought preserves, you will never get the same taste as home made!

Enjoy.
Magda.