I made a baker's dozen pints of strawberry jam over the weekend. Then I promptly started on another dozen. Strawberries do not sit out gracefully, and 12 pounds or so take up an awful lot of fridge space. When the berries are in, they are in and need to be packed asap.
You might recall that my family having suddenly discovered that I am mortal is _still_ fussing over me?
I was midway through my second batch of strawberry jam, when they as a group decided I should rest. Never in my life would I consider walking away from a batch of jam when I am in the middle of it, but they all but carried me out of the kitchen. DD3 and DH finished it off, I have been wondering if they could manage such a thing by themselves. DD3 is certainly learning how and making every effort to do well. Unfortunately, one of the first things they did was turn the pans down so they wouldn't boil over. So my jam ended up stewing for about 3 hours. They weren't stirring it like they should have, so the foam stayed on top instead of getting stirred in and so they had no clue as to when it was done (I generally start testing about 20 minutes after the foam is gone). It has a carmelly hint, and does taste nice. Sadly it is not jam, I have 12 pints of gumdrops. Or should that be 12, pint jars filled with a gumdrop? I suppose that come the holidays we can cut it out of the jars, dust it with powdered sugar, and present it as a home made old fashioned holiday treat.
DH has said he will buy another 10 or 12 pounds of strawberries to make up for it. DD3 figures they will go to a pick your own so as to make sure we get good ones. I've just been alternating between shaking my head and laughing it off.
NightMist No, there was no Certo or Sure-Jel involved in this debacle.