Mother's Day was last weekend -- and, I have been meaning to post this since, well, last week -- but, time got away from me, quickly.
This year for Mother's Day, my mother suggested that my grandmother teach all of us how to can preserves (i.e., "make jelly"). I was excited for this opportunity. . .I'm not much of a cook or baker, but I thought this would be a pretty cool thing to try out -- not to mention a chance to learn something from my Granny!
Before I could get to my parents' house, both my Grandmothers, my sister and my mother had already managed to throw a bunch of strawberries into the food processor and sanitized I don't know how many dozen jelly jars. By the time I arrived at the house there were 6 or 7 gallon sized Ziploc bags waiting in the fridge, full of food-processed strawberry goodness.
Someone got out the bowl, the sugar, the pectin and we got to work!
And, now, I won't even attempt to walk you through the steps - mainly for fear that I will forget an important step, you'll try to make jelly (preserves, whatever) and hurt yourself! If you want to give it a try, I recommend that you get instructions from the pros (http://brands.kraftfoods.com/surejell/jamming.htm). It's really not hard -- just messy -- but FUN!
One thing I can tell you is -- there is a reason that jelly tastes good. . .we used 7 CUPS of (white) sugar (SEVEN!!!) to make a batch of preserves [9 jars = 1 batch]. Yikes. :-) We did try (successfully) to make low sugar jelly, too (a little tart, but good) -- and some with grape juice (eh) -- and some with honey (least favorite) -- I told you we had A LOT of strawberries!
Here is a little collage of photos from our preserve making adventure.
-- MOMMY JAM --
Love. Preserved.
Mother's Day, 2010
What a fun little adventure, and a special time with my Grandmothers, mother and sister! Great thinking, Mom. (And, we missed you, Molly - A LOT!)
Happy Mother's Day {belatedly} to all the wonderful moms out there -- especially mine! You are the BEST!
xoxo
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