I wanted to invite you into a special memory and one that continues to live on for each of us girls -- for those of you that didn't know we have an older sister too!
I remember growing up that Saturday was always sort of a special day in our home. Yes, we had a list of chores to do which often included cleaning our room (Anna and I shared so we got to tag-team it), picking up pine cones so that dad could mow the yard without destroying our John Deer Tractor and a few other random things that mom would throw on the list week to week.
But before all of this got underway, Saturdays in the Long household always began with "hot breakfast". My husband makes fun of me now because still to this day I like to distinguish between "hot" and regular breakfast. Mom would usually ask us what we were feeling... pancakes, waffles, bacon & eggs... but when dad was cooking it was very likely that we would have french toast!
Maybe you're wondering why I'm boring you with all of these details about our Saturday morning breakfast traditions. Well, dad has a certain way of, how do you say, doctoring up his french toast. He taught us that the best way to eat french toast was not with syrup and a fork but to spread mom's homemade strawberry freezer jam on one side -- a hefty portion I might add because it's sooooo good!-- and fold it up and eat it like a sandwich. Soooo messy and so delish!
Just typing it right now takes me back to all 4 of us kids sitting around the kitchen table eating with dad our little french toast sandwiches in hand dripping with jam. Such sweet times together.
Because we love this strawberry jam so much, we make it a tradition or maybe more a priority to take a day and go out to strawberry fields and gather buckets of strawberry to stock our own freezers now with a few jars to last us the year! I wanted to share the recipe and some photos with you of our adventure to the strawberry patch this year! Ben even decided to join us though I think he left with small red bumps and some sort of allergic reaction happening on both forearms, I think we convinced him it was fun and worth it!
Enjoy!
STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM
What You Need:
- 2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
- 4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 pkg. SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin
RINSE 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. Discard stems. Crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.
MIX water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until most the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
FILL containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. (If frozen, thaw in refrigerator before using.)