Monday, June 15, 2009

Strawberry Jam or Bust


It was almost a bust. My very first canning experience, with strawberry jam and I was working against the clock and against Baby's naptime. In the canning directions, they constantly emphasize that you need to move *quickly* italicized, which raised my blood pressure because even the letters look like they're running! It was pretty fun, not as complicated and serious as the instructions made it seem, and I was feeling confident until my jars came out of the water bath. Those of you have canned before know that the true measure of success is the popping sound you hear once they come out of the water to let you know the jars have sealed properly. The first jar popped after about a minute, and I thought jars 2, 3, and 4 might be a loss, but no, after about 10 more minutes I heard a second pop, while I was nursing Baby and got so excited that he stopped eating to look at me with big eyes like I was losing it! (Sorry, run-on sentence...) Then he started laughing at silly Mommy. In the end, all four sealed properly, and we've already gone through almost a pint of strawberry jam, yum! What a fun experience, and I am looking forward to canning tomato sauce in the fall, and of teaching Baby about canning science in years to come. If anyone has some great recipes you use for canning, pass them on to me please!

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