Recipe: Ashley’s Strawberry Jam

• Two pounds of fresh strawberries
• 4 1/2 cups of white sugar
• 1 box of Sure Jell premium fruit pectin
• 6 canning jars

Wash and drain strawberries.  Remove stems from strawberries and slice.  Blend sliced strawberries in blender or food processor.  Measure 3 3/4 cups of crushed strawberries and 4 1/2 cups of white sugar.  Make sure to measure out the sugar ahead of time because you don’t want to stop in the middle of making the jelly and have to measure it out.  The jelly can easily burn.

Stir 1 box of fruit pectin and 3 3/4 cups of crushed strawberries into a large sauce pot on high heat.  You can add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to help reduce the foaming if you’d like.  Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that doesn’t stop when stirred.  Stir in sugar quickly.  Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly one minute.  Remove from heat.  Pour quickly into clean jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops.  Cover with lids and screw bands on tightly.  My Mom would always finish with putting them into a pressure cooker to seal the lids.  I was always scared of pressure cookers because I thought they would blow up on me so she told me that most of the time the jelly is so hot that it will seal the lid on its own within 30 minutes.  But to be safe, in case it doesn’t seal, always store the jelly in the freezer.  Majority of the time all my jars have sealed but I still store the jelly in the freezer, just in case.  This recipe makes about 6 cups of strawberry jelly.