Strawberry jam

I made jam!

I'm fairly inexperienced at canning, so I used a basic but detailed recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. There was a variation for Strawberry-Vanilla Jam that simply called for including a split vanilla bean in the jam as it cooked, so I figured what the heck, I'll do that. It didn't take very long to make, and it was easy.

Canning the jam was a bit of work, as I don't have all the nifty equipment like jar lifters and lid lifters and funnels. I also kept forgetting to run a spatula down the insides of each jar to remove air bubbles before putting on the lid. But all my jars sealed after processing, which is good news! Hearing the little "ping" as each jar seals is neat.

The finished jam is pretty and seems to have jelled properly. It also tastes good, but it is quite sweet. If I made it again I'd want to look for a recipe that uses less sugar. And I can't taste even a hint of vanilla, which is disappointing since the bean I used smelled lovely.

Crushed berries...



Here is the strawberry mixture on its way to a boil. And that's the Loch Ness monster surfacing in the center of the pot... oh, wait. That's the vanilla bean.


Strawberry jam on bread. Yum!